Upside down life cake
by story-teller666
Summary: The Naruto ninjas has arrived in our 21st century world...see how they cope with life in Australia, with the help of Tara Nozomi: your average manga/anime crazy 12th grader. How will she manage to live through one more year of school, alongside these nins
1. Chapter 1

Hey readers. I've loved reading those fantasy stories where Naruto characters end up in our current world via weird and wacky (always involving some sort of a portal) ways…so I decided, heck, I'll write one too. It will have a lot of cliché character personalities and situations (namely boy meets girl, girl already has a crush on the boy, they fall for each other) but I shall try my hardest to make it…unique…

I also love reading those conversations between the author and the characters for the disclaimer, so here's one of my own.

AUTHOR: Welcome to my beloved readers. Be ready to amazed, dazzled and stupefied by the creativity of the one and only devil's storyteller…me.

ITACHI: *walks into the frame, raises an eyebrow, turns and walks out again*

AUTHOR: *pulls out a lasso out of nowhere and throws it at the retreating Itachi* Come _back_ here *strains at the rope*

ITACHI: *slowly pulled into view* What the hell? What are you doing to me, woman? *strains against the pulling for all he's worth*

AUTHOR: get *pant* your *pant* sorry *pant* Uchiha ass *pant* here *one last pull and Itachi lands on his butt. Author does a victory dance*

ITACHI: …why?

AUTHOR: *puppy face* I need to do the disclaimer for me…*turns the puppy face to full power*…pwease?

ITACHI: Is that it? That's why you lassoed me? *sighs* Story-teller666 does not own Naruto. She is, however, the mastermind behind the creation of the great Takara. *turns to walk out of the frame*

AUTHOR: Thank you, thank you, you're too kind *bows to the audience*. Please, you flat- OI! Where do you think your going *jumps on the trailing rope*

ITACHI: *lands on his butt a second time* WHAT? I did the bloody disclaimer. Lemme go. I gotta finish Sharingan-ing people.

AUTHOR: *sweatdrop* …Sharingan-ing? *Holds up a finger as Itachi opens his mouth to answer* Don't answer that! Just stay and read/watch the story. I need help with where to take it. You're the Uchiha prodigy…

ITACHI: *flattered* Well, yeah…*narrows eyes in realization* You just conned me into reading your story, didn't 'cha?

AUTHOR: *does a second victory dance* Yeah, baby. I just outsmarted the prodigy! *clears throat* ON WITH THE STORY

**Chapter 1**

Blink…blink…blink…

A ferocious shake of the head followed a slowly dropping bottom jaw. I could only imagine what they saw…a crazy wiry girl, frozen still in the middle of the grassy paddock, rapidly widening golden-brown eyes. But then again, they shouldn't be complaining.

I should probably start from the beginning. Hi, I'm Takara 'Tara' Nozomi from Australia. I live at the farm that once belonged to my parents. Or so I was told when I was first given consent to live by myself by the Child Welfare office. You see, I've never actually met by biological mother and father. Apparently, my past is exactly like of those sob stories you hear in every cliché movie. I was abandoned at an orphanage in the middle of the night some sixteen years ago. I was told of this at the age of ten, and, to be completely honest, I didn't really care.

I've been told that I've got the craziest personalities ever seen in the civilized world. That's including the last couple of centuries. Apart from the random moments I completely let my mouth loose with quite a few dirty words, and from the violent tantrums I throw in every now and then, I'm a fairly contained, yet excitable person. Talk about contradictions. I talk, but I mostly keep to myself. The only people I feel comfortable enough to talk to are my best-est best buddies Laura 'Loz' Xavier and Richard 'Rickie' Warren. The three of us hadn't even met till about two years ago, but after just one glance at each other, something clicked. Ever since then, we've – or so most people say – been inseparable.

But back to the situation at hand. It's the summer holidays, and it's the last school year. Living in the rural country, the houses are fairly isolated. There was a good few kilometers between each property. I owned and lived in a moderate-sized home, with acres and acres of free open grass land lying to the south and east of the house. To the rest surrounding was covered with green trees. The contrasting landscape was beautiful to look at, especially at dawn and dusk.

And it was in the densely packed trees that I saw the flashes of unearthly green and white. In my defense, I wasn't aware that I was inviting trouble when I went to investigate.

"Ok…" I dragged the word out. Clapping my hands over my eyes like a five year old, I spun around, facing the other direction.

"I'll just look away and when I turn around, this will all go back to normal" I hummed a little tune, the sound coming out in a slight hysterical tone.

"…what's with her, un?" I heard the voice and groaned. Clutching my hair wildly, I spun on my heels and glared at the ten oddly dressed people standing confusedly on my yard.

"You" I spat, an accusing finger pointing at the blonde. A raised eyebrow replied. "What the hell are you lot doing here? You're not real…you're…not…" I trailed off, finally throwing my hands up, beseechingly, at the sky.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"Um" the orange masked male took hesitant steps towards me. "Do-do-you know Tobi?" he titled his head.

Immediately a hand descended loudly on the black spikes.

"You idiot, un" the blonde glared at the cowering mask "you just gave away information about yourself to a stranger."

"Aah, Tobi is sorry, Deidara sempai" the other male replied.

"Argh!" the blonde growled "SHUT UP, UN!"

I watched the exchange with growing amusement. A grin weaved its way onto my face, until I stood there listening, smiling like a Chesire cat.

"You're team work sucks" I pointed out to the two. Both turned towards me, as though realizing my presence.

"Who the hell are you?" a silver haired man scowled furiously at me. He fingered the blade of his scythe, pinkish-purple orbs narrowed in suspicion.

"Why should I tell you?" I fired back "I was taught not to talk to strangers".

"Wha- you lil fu – " he began angrily, starting forwards. However, a tall menacing aura stepped in front of him, halting him in his tracks.

"Control yourself" the quiet, yet threatening, order was tossed over his shoulder before ringed eyes turned their focus on me.

"We're new here" he began in a calm tone "we aren't sure how we ended up here. So we were hoping for…directions" he glanced around the surroundings, which were mainly trees.

I stared at the face, dotted with multiple piercings. Blinking myself out of my daze, I looked at the others.

"Holy shit" I swore, recognizing every single one of them. "Y-you're th-the A-a-a…" I stuttered to a halt. All eyes bore down on me, making me fell two feet tall.

"You're the real deal" I breathed out.

"Real deal?" a questioning glance went up. Some looked at each other and shrugged.

"Um, yeah" I was starting to feel more than a little uncomfortable under the scrutiny. "You're…you're the….Akatsuki" the last word was whispered, but it was heard.

The silence that followed was deafening. Then, almost instantaneously, as one, all the members took exactly two steps away from me, and at the same time pulled out weapons of all forms and sizes.

"What do you know of us?" a blue haired woman, Konan, demanded. Her fingers held a piece of paper.

"A lot" I laughed weakly, before slumping onto the ground. Ignoring the few exclaims of surprise, I held my head.

"Hehe" I laughed. "This is so crazy, I don't even care that there are pointy things being pointed at me".

I took a deep breath, and pulled on a blinding smile. I looked at the startled faces.

"I'm Nozomi Takara" I offered, climbing to my feet "you can call me Tara". I turned to walk back to the house, only to stop as a kunai embedded itself right before me. Looking to my left, I lifted an eyebrow at Uchiha Itachi. The said person watched me through dead eyes.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kisame inquired, a feral grin on his face.

"Uh…home" I made a gesture that went along the lines of 'duh, obviously'.

"What makes you think you'll stay alive?" Kakuzu questioned, black tentacles waving about.

I placed a finger to the corner of my mouth. "Gee, I don't know" I mocked, screwing my face up in exaggerated thought "probably 'cause, in this world, you guys will be SCREWED without my help" I smirked.

"In this world?" Sasori's creepy puppet face looked up at me.

"What you still think you're in Ame, or Fire country, or where ever the hell you were?" I questioned, waving an airy arm at the trees. All of the members pondered on the question.

"Just where exactly are we?" Itachi asked, his voice mellow. A blush fought to show on my face, as I tuned out my inner fangirl.

"Australia" I replied, the smirk still visible. When I saw the confusion on his face, the smirk widened.

"Sorry, Itachi. But Australia isn't a place you learned in geography at Konoha" I wagged a finger at him.

His onyx eyes narrowed slightly. "What?"

"Oh, nothing" I said, spinning on my heels. I started to walk towards my house a second time. This time, nothing was thrown. A few steps were taken, before I turned to look at the lost ninjas.

"You coming?"

For those who've never had ninjas in their house, let me tell you this: they are hopeless. Sure I understand that their profession requires them to spend a great deal of time outdoors, but seriously. The way they looked at the kitchen table and chairs makes one question their own living arrangements.

The question fell out as soon I saw Pein brush his fingertips along the surface of the graphite bench top.

"What, you lot never been in a house before?" I enquired. A laugh bubbled at the tip of my tongue.

He threw a sharp glance at me, before returning to his inspection. I sighed, and walked into the kitchen. Pulling out pots and plates, I turned my attention to cooking dinner.

Not too much later, the smell of simmering pasta sauce had all ten of my visitors in the kitchen. Tobi bounced a little in excitement, his masked face moving in all directions as his attention went from one little thing to the next. Hidan sniffed the air and mumbled curses under his breath. Kakuzu was eyeing the microwave and oven. Konan walked over to me, still cautious, and peered at the red sauce.

"What the hell is that?" Kisame towered over both us girls as he stared at the bubbling liquid. His face was caught between questioning, disgust and curiosity.

"Food" I replied, miffed at the expression. Seizing a plate piled with cooked pasta, I ladled the hot sauce over it. Placing it on the counter, I picked up the next plate. Soon, there were eleven plates filled with hold yummy food, ready to be eaten.

"Let's eat" I offered a plate to Konan. She looked at me in surprise, then in suspicion.

"You might have poisoned it" she accused, glaring through narrowed eyes.

"What the fuck?" I rolled my eyes. "Fine, starve. You'll just have to eat whatever you find in the pantry. I'm gonna go and have REAL food". With that, I marched over to the couch, ignoring the looks of amusement and incredulity.

Grumbling under my breath about over-cautious ninjas, I snatched the remote off the couch, glared at Sasori who was occupying my favourite spot and settled on the floor.

"What are you doing?" the red headed puppet master's eyebrows climbed up towards his hairline. He was staring at the remote that was being pointed at the black screen.

"Watching TV" I mumbled through a mouthful of pasta. As the screen flickered to life, various noises were heard: the most prominent being Hidan's cursing.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" the Jashinist screeched, pointing wildly at the moving pictures.

"WOAH!" that was Tobi.

"Whaz going on in h…WHAT THE HELL?" Deidara literally slid to a stop as he stared at the TV.

"Geez" I muttered "don't you guys know what a TV is?" Blank looks replied. Pein walked in, and froze. He narrowed his eyes at the box, clearing wondering whether the inanimate object was harmless or not.

"What's a T…V…?" Kisame dragged out the unfamiliar term, nervously poking the said thing with Samahada.

"You watch things, like the news and other entertainment shows in it" I replied, smirking at Itachi, who was slowly edging away from the blaring sound speaker. His face was set in a scowl, and he dug a finger into his ear – no doubt going temporarily deaf at the sudden booming.

"You…watch…things _in_ it?" Pein turned his stare to me.

"Yup" I giggled, patting the floor next to me "wanna join me?"

Exchanging a glance that clearly stated 'I think we're stuck with a loony', with Konan, our dear Leader-sama settled himself on the couch. I huffed and turned back to entertainment.

"Fine" I said, lips pouting. But that was soon forgotten as Monsters Inc came on. Completely ignoring the unsettled nins, I laughed my way through the movie, only pausing during the ad breaks to take a peek at the baffled crowd.

"So…" I raised an eyebrow at Hidan. He turned his head, his eye twitching.

"What the hell do you mean 'so'?" he hissed, the twitch never stopping. "What kind of a crappy story was that?"

"Hey" I was quickly on defence "do NOT insult Mike, Sully and Boo".

"Exactly my point…who the hell names their kid 'Boo'?"

"Well…you know people named Na – " I froze, horrified at the close call.

"Named what?" Zetsu spoke from the corner. Both black and white sides were watching me guardedly.

"Nothing" I busied myself with collecting the dishes that had previously been filled with food. "Looks like you guys had to eat what I made" I noted.

"Hn" Itachi kept his onyx eyes at the TV.

"Yeah, like that's informative" I snapped at the Uchiha prodigy. There was no reply.

"Would Tara-chan like some help?" Tobi pranced forward. Before I could either accept of reject his offer, the plates had disappeared out of my hands. A neatly stacked pile appeared in the sink.

"Uh…" I blinked, then rubbed the back of my head "thanks?"

"No problem" Tobi chirped. He bounced over to me and seized my hands. Then dragging me along behind him, the nin bounced up the stairs to my room.

"What's all these pictures?" he inquired, in an innocent tone that didn't deceive me. I looked to where he was pointing and my heart almost stopped.

"Ah…" I fumbled for an answer as the rest of the troop walked in, curious to know what had gotten Tobi excited. They all stopped and turned to look at me as one. If the situation hadn't been so serious, I would have been pissing myself by now.

Pein took slow, deliberate steps towards me. He wrapped a hand around my upper arm and lead to my chair.

"Sit" he said, curtly. I obeyed, dropping onto the wheelie chair as quickly as possible. "Explain" he jerked his head towards the Naruto themed playing cards I had plastered on my cupboard door. Itachi was examining the pictures carefully, especially the ones of Sasuke.

"Um…" I started to fumble with fingers in a very Hinata – like manner. "They…uh…they're playing cards…" I offered.

"What the fuck?" Hidan scoffed, incredulity spreading across his face.

I nodded vigorously. "It's true" I emphasized. "You can pull it off and turn it around" Kakuzu followed my instructions, pulling one off. Slowly he stared at the plastic for a while, before handing off to Sasori.

"Lemme fucking see that" Hidan demanded, striding forwards with his hand stretched out.

"After I've finished looking at it" Sasori never took his eyes off the card he held in his hand. The puppet master blankly looked at the pictures before passing it to Kisame.

"I've got one for all of you, too" I perked up. Rummaging through the top desk drawer, I pulled out a plastic box. "See?" I waved it around.

Tobi snatched the box out of my hands. "Tobi wants to see" he exclaimed, dumping the box's entire contents on the bed. He gasped, then clapped hands together like a child, before grabbing the cards with his picture on it.

"Hey, un" Deidara exclaimed, holding up a card with him on "I'm on it as well, un."

One by one, each of the Akatsuki members moved forwards and looked at the cards. Relief had me sighing shallowly. I smirked as I watched Pein narrow his eyes at a particular card.

"Where didja get these from, un?" Deidara was close to mirroring Tobi's bounce as he grinned at me. His visible blue eye sparkled, as the blonde waved a card in the air.

"Somewhere" I shrugged, grinning despite myself. The ninjas' excitement was contagious. "So…" I dragged the word out, instantly catching Pein's attention "…am I off the hook?"

"Off the hook?" Kisame frowned in confusion.

"It's a saying" Pein explained shortly. He turned to me. "And…yes. For now" he added, threat clear in his voice.

"Ok" I managed an over-brightly smile.

Sighing I snuggled deeper into my thick warm blankets and quilts. The frosty, early morning air somehow managed to get to my nose tip that I had poked out of my cocoon. Wrinkling my nose at the uncomfortable temperature, I wormed my way further down. I was at the border of half wake and dreamland, when the cold temperature got to my entire body.

"Aargh!" I screamed, jerking upright to see who had pulled all the warmth off me. My eyes narrowed at the sight of orange.

"TOBI!" 

Grumbling I made my way into the kitchen. Ignoring the sniggers from Deidara and Kisame, and the swearing from Hidan, I pulled out my breakfast cereal and bowl. Stomping over to the fridge, I pulled out the milk and slammed the door shut.

"What's gotten you in a foul mood this morning?" Sasori watched me perform by daily morning ritual.

"Tobi" I replied shortly. Sitting down on the couch, I turned on the TV to watch the morning cartoons.

"Not a morning person?" Kisame enquired, settling down next to me. The cushioned chair sank a few inches.

"No shit, Sherlock" I replied, still fuming about the earlier incident. I started to shovel cereal into my mouth, not wanting to continue with anymore conversations for the moment.

"Ooh…" Hidan mocked "the bitch has a bite". I tuned him out, focusing entirely on X-Men.

I ran a critical eye over the ten ninjas cramped into my living room. I sighed, smirked and giggled at the odd sight they presented, both individually and as a group.

"Ok" I called out, stopping all conversations. As twenty eyes turned to me, I cleared my throat.

"We need to get you more…" I paused, searching for the right word "…inconspicuous."

"How?" Pein crossed his arms.

I grinned, holding up a peace sign. "Easy" I winked. "Here's the plan" I dropped my voice, adopting a serious tone. They all leaned forwards slightly. "We..." I paused, dramatically drawing out the moment "…go shopping."

I can tell you more than four people face planted.

"Shopping?" Hidan smacked his forehead. "My dear Jashin sama" he sent up a pleading glance to the ceiling.

Even Konan sighed, a small smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. "And how exactly does shopping help?" she questioned, her tone mild.

I scowled at Hidan. "It will help" I stomped my foot. Narrowing my eyes at the Jashinist, I turned to face Konan.

"I can take you shopping, and you can see how things…work…around here" I was struck by a stray thought. "And I need to buy somethings."

"Like what?" Itachi inquired, a delicate eyebrow raised. 

I pointedly stared at the black and red cloaks and the fishnet shirts. "Like _real_ clothes, for example".

Kakuzu immediately crossed his arms. "We don't have the money" he intoned, ignoring the many skeptical looks he received.

"Liar" I blatantly said. "You pickpocket everyone and everything, _and_ steal from the people you kill. There's no _way_ in heaven, or hell, that you'll end up with no money."

"Oh, she's good, un" Deidara muttered approvingly to Sasori. The red head gave a non-committed grunt.

Pein sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, carefully avoiding all his piercings. When he reopened the Rinnegan, they had a resolute look in them.

"Itachi, Konan, Deidara" he pointed to each as he called their names. "You three will accompany Nozomi-san on this shopping trip. Get as many items as possible" he turned to walk out of the room, but paused at the door. "Oh, and Kakuzu, give them the money they need."

I pumped my arms in the air in victory, and gave a thousand watt smile at the grumbling man. "Cough it up, Kakuzu-chan."

I couldn't help but grin at the sight of Konan, Itachi and Deidara observing the train station in a curious, yet guardedly manner. Then I sighed, as I realized that Pein had chosen the most _normal_ looking people out of the group to accompany me on this expedition. Inwardly thanking Pein, I ran a critical eye up and down the three.

Konan, dressed in jeans, boots, singlet and checked shirt looked like your average rural girl – plus ridiculously blue hair. But the colour would pass for dyed hair. Itachi was in a pair of jeans, runners and t-shirt. His long hair was tied as it always is, but the casual clothes and the easiness he displayed had me and many other females in the vicinity staring. Deidara was dressed like Itachi, but he displayed a more cute school boy look. After much arguing, we (as in Konan and myself) had managed to convince Deidara to _shorten_ his hair length. This resulted in a rough cut that had his blonde hair reduced to just below his collar. The new hairstyle matched perfectly with the clothes he wore. All three looked like any other person here.

"The train departing to Flinders Street station is arriving at platform one" the loudspeaker announced, jerking me out of my musings.

"C'mon" I motioned to the other three to follow. Like lost puppies, the female and two males kept right at my heels. I stepped onto the train and looked around at the empty carriage.

"Look at that" I laughed, before claiming a seat next to the window. When the others didn't copy, I sighed and looked seriously at them. "Are you three going to stand up for the next hour and a half?"

A quick glance was exchanged, before Itachi settled next to me and Konan and Deidara sat opposite us. Fighting the inner fangirl that battled to be let out, I quickly faced the window, hiding the blush that formed on my face.

I waved a hand in front of Deidara open mouthed face. The expression was frozen, and I turned worriedly to Itachi and Konan, each looking stunned at the sheer size of the building before them.

"Um…hello" I stared to poke Itachi's arm, feeling the hard muscles. The Uchiha snapped his eyes back to you, before glancing awestruck at the construction.

"That's big" he stated. That seemed to get Deidara and Konan back to earth.

"Are you kidding?" Deidara exclaimed. He waved his hand around. "Did you even see the building? It HUGE."

By now people were sending us weird looks. I smiled nervously at a few, while discreetly stepping on Itachi's foot. He nudged me slightly in understanding and slapped a hand over Deidara's mouth.

"Relatives from overseas" I smile apologetically at those within range. A few nodded in understanding, while others shrugged and moved on.

"Shut the hell up" I hissed at the three under my breath. Then hitching a smile on to my face, I walked into Melbourne Central Station.

"Just where are we going?" Konan asked, easily keeping up with me due to her long legs. All three ninjas had their eyes moving constantly, snapping from one thing to the next. A few times I even heard a quiet gasp.

"Clothes store" I tugged her hand. "I hope you know the others' sizes." Pulling a shirt off the rack, I held it up to inspect it. "Do you think this'll fit Hidan? Or Kisame?"

"I don't know" Itachi managed to look annoyed and super cool at the same time. He wandered to the next aisle, and pulled out a pair of pants to look at.

"Thanks for you help, Mr Helpful" I shot back at him. Then I help the shirt up to Konan. "What do you reckon?"

Trying to sit with a million huge, 'about to burst', plastic bags is not an easy feat. I had to shift my position almost every two minutes to avoid slipping off the seat. After about the tenth time, I gave into the frustrated growl.

"Argh!" I smacked the tight plastic. "Stay _still_".

"You know" Konan watched me, amusment clearly written all over her face "yelling at it doesn't help".

"Not true" I immediately pointed a finger at my female companion, losing a couple of bags to the floor in the process. "Yelling lets you get the frustrations out".

Deidara smirked as Itachi closed his eyes. "You _would_ know it from experience" the blonde teased, placing heavy emphsis on the second 'would'. I poked my tongue out in a childish reply.

"Why would you have any doubts about that?" Itachi murmured, a ghost of a smirk visible on his face. I scowled at the darked haired male.

"At times like this, I prefer your monosyllable answers."

This time, a smirk actually flashed on his face. "Hn."

"Yep" I nodded approvingly. "Good boy"

An eyebrow twitched.

Not surprisingly, it was Tobi who answered the door. The masked man bounced around the four of us as we staggered into the living room, laddened with shopping bags.

"Thanks for you help, un" Deidara glared at his partner. The reciepient, however, was too busy being distracted by the newly bought items.

"Ooh" he squealed, holding up a t-shirt with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle print on the front. "Tobi wants this one" he announced, hugging the article of clothing to his chest.

"You can damn well have it" Hidan wrinkled his nose at the grey shirt, before turning his attention to the bags. He yanked out a checked shirt. "I'll take this" he announced. Konan grabbed it out of his hands.

"No" she stared calmly at the furious Jashinist. "This is for Kisame" she handed the said thing to the blue man, and pulled out a grey-blue sweat shirt "_this _is for you". A slight smile made its way onto her face as she took in Hidan's expression.

"WHAT?" he screamed, waving his hand in the air "WHAT'S WITH THIS SHIT?"

"Oi" I walked up the screaming immortal, and poked a finger in his chest. "I chose that" I glared "and you better wear it". Narrowed eyes ended the discussion. "I'm gonna go make lunch".

As I walked to the kitchen, I heard Hidan's muttered curses. "Stupid bitch…crazy fucker…"

I grinned. "Love you too, hun" I yelled sarcastically.

"WHAT?"

I looked up as a chortling Tobi sprinted past me. I sighed.

"5…4…3…2…" I counted down "…1…"

"GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE, UN! I'LL KILL YOU" a blonde bomber sped past in a whirlwind.

"BUT SEMPAI'S MAD"

"OH? YOU DON'T SAY, UN. AND WHO MADE _SEMPAI_ THIS MAD?"

"…TOBI?"

"OI! WHY ARE YOU SAYING IT LIKE A QUESTION?"

Pein walked into the room. He sighed and glared at the two yelling idiots. When this seemed to have no effect, he turned to Kisame. A short jerk towards Deidara and Tobi prompted the big blue fish-man into action.

He strode to the two, grabbed one in each hand by the collar and dragged them back to his leader. After dumping them unceremoniously at his feet, Kisame silently returned to his paper.

Pein stared down at the two figures on the floor. "What" he began in a dangerous tone "do you think you're doing?"

Tobi bounced upright. "Deidara sempai's being mean" he whined. The high pitched sound made everyone in the room twitch and succeeded in driving Hidan to stalking out of hearing vicinity. Pein clenched his hands into fists, breathing deeply through his nose. Gritting his teeth together, he turned his back to the blathering idiot and followed Hidan out.

"Um…" I managed to hold in the giggle that threatened to burst out of me. "That went well" I finished weakly, unable to stop the smile that slipped into place.

"It could have been worse" Kisame didn't look up from the paper he was staring at. A frown marred the blue, surprisingly handsome, face. "What the hell does all this say?" he demanded, thrusting the paper in my direction. I shrugged, not interested in reading the news.

"Dunno, don't care" I returned to what I was doing before being interrupted – searching for the can of whipped cream I knew that was hiding in the pantry. It was while moving aside a packet of noodles that the thought hit me.

"Wait" I whipped around to Kisame "you can't read what it says?"

The shark-man glanced up. "No…I just can't make out what the words are" he sheepishly grinned "I forgot my glasses at the lair".

It took all in me not to gape at the man known (in the anime and manga) as the Bijuu-less Jinchurikin. Who would've thought that such a powerful character will be needing reading glasses. Another hit whammed into my head. _I wonder what other quirks the others have._ An evil smirk weaved onto my face, my brain already scrambling around to put together plans and pranks.

"Uh oh" Tobi pointed dramatically at my face "Tara chan looks evil" he squealed, before running around like a headless chicken.

"Shut up" Deidara snarled, managing to land a hit on top the masked man's head. He then turned, and stopped as he saw my face. A twitch of the eyebrow later, he slowly backed away from both me and Tobi.

"He's right about the face, though" the blonde muttered.

I returned my attention back to the pantry. "I heard that".

RING RING…RING RING…RING RING…

"WHAT THE F*** IS THAT?" Hidan roared, striding into the living room.

I scowled. "Shut up, you freak" I retorted, walking to the phone and snatching up the receiver. "Speak and be heard" I announced, ignoring the raised eyebrows directed at me.

"Hey" a cheerful voice replied "whazzup?"

"Rickie" I squealed in happiness. "How are ya bud?"

"Meh" I could see his shrug. "Not too bad…" he trailed off. I had an inkling of what was coming up next.

"Come on…say it" I sighed.

"Could you open your front door? I kinda need the toilet" his grin could be heard. I placed the receiver back into its cradle.

"What…who…" Deidara kept looking between me and the phone, unsure as to whom (or what) he should direct his enquiries.

"Phone…communication device" I provided, making my way past nine others. Upon reaching the front door, I pulled it open and stood to a side. Rickie bounded straight inside, heading in a bee line to the toilet.

"Nice to see you too" I yelled at his retreating back.

"TOILET" he screamed in joy. I sweatdropped.

"Jeez…don't go hugging the loo" I said, heading back to the living area.

"Who was that?" Pein questioned, ringed eyes serious. I waved an airy hand.

"Just a crazy pal of mine"

Kisame snorted. "Any pal of yours would be crazy" he smirked.

I smirked back. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Heh"

"How long is he staying?" Sasori inquired, arms crossed. He leaned against a wall, his face maintaining an indifferent expression.

"As long as he wants" I replied, glaring at the suddenly tense group. The sound of toilet flushing made me turn to grin at the boy who sauntered into the room, a look of victory gracing his features. But that soon changed as he registered the others present.

"Um…"he began hesitantly "…I don't know how to tell you this Tara, but YOU HAVE COSPLAYERS IN YOUR HOUSE!" he pointed out.

"Yes, thank you genius" I snapped sarcastically.

Silence. "Why do you have cosplayers in your house?"

"Cause I wanted to".

"What's cosplayers?" Pein jumped in. I muffled a groan on exasperation.

"Never mind that" I turned to Rickie "did _you_ need something? Other than use the toilet…"

"Uh" his eyes were still glued adoringly on Konan.

"Oi" I snapped fingers into front of his dumbfounded face.

"Oh yeah" Rickie jumped. "I wanted to ask you if you're going to the Manga fest coming up."

"Mangafest?"

"Yep" a vigorous nod "It's in the city". I considered the idea.

"Sounds appealing" I said slowly. My eyes roamed to Kisame who was watching with a confused expression. A grin slowly unfurled on my face. "In fact, I think I'll take up the offer".

"What?" Rickie blinked.

"What?" Pein raised an eyebrow.

"WHAT?" Hidan glared and Tobi cocked his head.

"Anyone else?" I asked, irritated. When no one replied, I sighed.

"Um…what are they going to go as?" Rickie jerked his head to Kisame.

"As themselves, duh!"

"Oh…oh yeah".

"Whoa" Deidara walked forwards, holding up his hands. "What's going on?"

I slung an arm around Rickie shoulder. "You, my friend, are going to see yourselves from my point of view".

"Huh?"

Ok, so this chapter didn't have a lot going on in it…I swear to put more action into the next chappie. It's just I lost inspiration half way through, and then got it again…then lost it again…long story short, I'm ready to keep righting. The first few updates may or may not be regular…I've got sooooo many assessments and tests to do….year 12 is NOT - I repeat – not fun…only have a three or four months to go…I WLL SURVIVE!


	2. Chapter 2

AUTHOR: Welcome back to my loyal readers! Yes, I've managed to finish another chapter of this compelling story.

HIDAN: *laughing* hehehe…what are you callin' compelling? This is the crappiest piece of junk I've ever read.

AUTHOR: *glares* No one asked you…you FREAK! *ducks a flying scythe*

HIDAN: WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?

KAKUZU: *sighs* Hidan…you _are_ a freak…you're immortal.

HIDAN: *pondering* Oh…oh yeah.

AUTHOR: *sweatdrop* …yeah…uh…on with the story.

**Chapter 2**

I sighed pitifully for the umpteenth time. A few seconds later…I sighed again.

"WHAT'S YOU PROBLEM, BITCH?" Hidan snapped, his patience worn out a good ten minutes ago.

"…nothing…" I replied gloomily staring at the piles of books in front of me. I wouldn't have been surprised to see gloom lines appearing in my little corner.

"Tara chan" Deidara, too, was looking somewhat apprehensively at the tower. "What's with the books, un?"

Big anime tears were on the verge of leaking out of my eyes. "Holiday homework" I moaned, covering my head with my arms.

"…what's holiday homework?"

My head snapped up, eyes widening dramatically. Voice dropping down to a mere whisper, I explain.

"It's torture…" I began, and then corrected myself. "No…worse than torture. It's worse than any of your nightmares…it haunts until one is broken" by now I was off my chair and stalking towards the concerned looking blonde "It shatters the very thing you hold precious…"

"W-what?" Deidara questioned, a tad nervous.

"…your well earned…much needed…life saving…holidays" I finish, gloom lines returning with vengeance.

"…holidays?" he looked confused, skeptical and then assumed a face that clearly read 'now-I-_know_-she's-crazy'.

"They don't look that bad" Itachi's voice commented from where the evil books of doom sat patiently. I looked up to see the Uchiha peer at the open pages.

"Shut up, Uchiha" I snapped. Marching over I sat myself down to confront the enemy. White, blank pages stared challengingly back.

"Oh, it _is on_" I declared, snatching up a pen.

"What's going on?" Kisame wandered into the room. He glanced around once, and then joined the others in staring at the muttering girl hunched over books and paper.

"Uh…what is she doing?"

"Don't ask" the sigh went up in unison.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me"

"Oh, hey" I rubbed my eyes sleepily. A glance at the clock told me the time: 12 o'clock…at night. There was only one person who would call me at this time…Loz.

"Wha cha up to?"

"Calling you" she joked. I sighed.

"You need to work on your sense of humor"

"Meanie"

"Whatever"

"Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I'm on my way for the Naruto marathon…_don't you dare fall asleep_" she added, quite menacingly at the end. I gave a nervous laugh, instantly awake.

"Who…me?" I asked.

"Good girl" Laura chirped. "See you in bit"

"M'kay" I mumbled into the ring tone. Then froze.

_Shit_, I thought with a look at the ceiling…in the direction of ten anime characters currently boarding in the same building as me. The dots began to connect and I slowly realized the implications of what was going to happen.

_Must find something else to watch_, I feverishly shuffled through my collection of anime series. Luckily, I preferred downloading Naruto episodes to buying the DVDs.

"This'll do" I exclaimed, triumphantly holding up a box.

"Do for what?" Konan inquired from the doorway. She settled herself onto the couch.

"Um…to watch…with a friend…" I laughed sheepishly, hoping to whatever God available that I didn't sound suspicious.

"Can I join you?" she smiled, warmly. A little taken back by the gesture, I shrugged.

"S-sure" I said hesitantly. At that moment, the doorbell rang. "Be right back".

Ignoring Hidan' swearing and Tobi's howling, I wrenched open the wood.

"Hey" Laura smiled brightly. She invitingly shook her bag which emitted a few crashes and chimes. "Got a few episodes to watch" stepping in she immediately walked to the TV room.

"Um…Laura…you sorta need to know something" I panicked and ran after her after a quick wave to Mrs. Xavier. I skidded to halt, watching as she froze at the sight of Konan. The blue haired woman had risen off the couch and was surveying Laura gravely.

"Hehe…yeah…" I started weakly.

"Tara" Laura rounded to me, eyes a little wild "what the _hell_ is going on?" she hissed.

"I believe that's my line" I groaned and looked at Pein, who'd just entered the room. He gazed down at my friend, a pompous air around him.

"Just…just calm down, you guys" I pleaded. "Laura…sit down" I led her to the free couch. Gently coaxing her to plant her rear on the soft cushions, I sat alongside her.

A deep breath later, I was explaining the events from a few nights ago. "They…they popped out of nowhere"

"What?"

"I swear. It was a couple of nights ago…I found 'em in the woods."

"…they were lost in the woods?" there was a skeptical tone in her voice. Her baby blue eyes never left Pein's Rinnegan.

"Yep" I supplied, trying to cheer up the tense atmosphere. "Funny, huh?"

"…what?"

"I mean, who's ever heard of ninjas lost in the woods?" I pondered on the question myself.

"…"

"Still doesn't explain why they're in your house" Laura crossed her arms, a maternal tone creeping into her voice.

Instantly, I was annoyed. "What are you, my mother?" I snapped, jumping up.

Laura looked at me. "Tara…" she began, condescendingly "…you'll end up killing yourself if Rickie and I weren't here to look after you" she pointed out.

"Shut up" I huffed, not bothering to deny the truth. Silence reigned for moments while the rest of the Akatsuki trudged into the room.

"TARA CHAN" Tobi managed to get me on the floor with a super-powerful glomp.

"OOF"

He let and cocked his head to the side as he stared at me confusedly. "What are you doing on the floor?" he inquired. I smacked my forehead, and ignored the masked nin.

"So" I turned to Laura wearily "what're we watching?"

"Well, I _was_ planning on watching…" she trailed off with a pointed look at Pein "…but let's just watch something else"

"OK" I placed the DVD in the player. "The Grudge it is".

I was shaking so hard that I think I managed to make Kisame, to whom I was attached to, tremble…an amazing feat, if I do say so myself. I was on the verge of tears, screaming as the black hair whipped out of nowhere and obscured the girl from our view.

"HOLY SHIT"

Kisame rubbed his ear, _permanently_ deaf. The big blue shark-man attempted to loosen my grip on him by flexing his muscles.

"Can I have my arm back now?" he asked irritably. "I'm sorta loosing the circulation" he added under his breath.

"N-no" I stuttered, eyes fixated on the TV. A sigh sounded.

"Why did you insist on watching this then, if you're so scared?" Itachi's flat voice, funnily enough, soothed my terrors a little.

"B-because i-its fun" I stammered back. A random thought flitted past. "And because I want to be ready if Orochimaru turns up and tries…anything" I declared.

...

"S-she's got a point" Deidara pointed out. His face had a slightly green tinge to it as his thoughts tuned to the same frequency as mine.

"No" Laura jumped up from her spot on the couch, between Sasori and Hidan. "Oro is a pedo" she explained slowly to me. I was half expecting a white board and markers to appear. It felt like she was giving a 'How-to-deal-with-Orochimaru-for-dummies' course.

"There's a difference between pedos and Orochimaru and the Grudge?"

With a sagely nod, she setteled herself back down.

"What is it?"

She shrugged. "I dunno"

I face palmed myself for the second time that night. "You suck" I informed her, in between the couch shaking sniggers from Kisame. Then my stomach decided to make a little complaint…rather loudly. I blushed as almost everyone looked around for the source of the noise. Tobi was on his feet, head moving so fast it made me dizzy just watching him.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

"That" I snapped, standing up as regally as possible "…was my stomach" and walked out of the room with as much dignity I could muster, amidst the cackles and smirks my answer had generated.

"Stupid asses" I muttered to myself as I stood at the sink, watching the black night through the window. I relaxed against the granite counter. Then stood up straight as a flash caught my eye.

_The same place_ I remembered the night of the Akatsuki's arrival. The flash had appeared almost in the middle of the trees. A small worry started to niggle in the back of my mind. But my curiosity won, and I darted out the back door and jogged towards the forest.

Twigs cracked under my trainers as I picked my way through the increasingly dense tree clumps. Stepping over a raised root, I stumbled to halt by the edge of a scorched circle in the grass.

The black ring extended almost ten meters across and there was still some smoke rising up from the burnt area, especially the middle.

"What the hell?"

A sudden movement to my right had me rolling to the left. I scrambled up, fighter instincts on alert, as I gazed at the kunai embedded in the tree trunk in front of me. My eyes flashed up, following the probably path of the blade, and my mouth swung open as I looked at four people perched on the first branch.

"Don't move" a man in gravity defying silver hair ordered, his uncovered eye fixated directly on me. Another kunai was already hooked on his pointer finger, as Hatake Kakashi assessed me.

"Where are we, dattebayo?" a blonde with six whisker marks looked around confusedly. He scratched the back of his head, obviously at loss with the situation.

"Naruto, shut up" Haruno Sakura scolded her teammate as she narrowed emerald eyes at me. Her gloved hands were fisted, ready to punch either me, or Naruto.

My eyes turned to the last member. Sai watched me through dead eyes, his face neutral.

"Whoa" I held up my hands. "W-what are you lot doing here?" I demanded.

"…you know us?" Kakashi's voice was cold. He used his free hand to move the titled headband up, ready to use the Sharingan.

"Hey" I pouted, more than a little annoyed at his attitude. "You pop out of nowhere, and then threaten the one person who might be able to help you? Nice manners" I huffed, deciding to settle down on the grass. I could tell this was going to take a while sort out.

The four jumped down lightly, still keeping their distance. Naruto's expression was still confused, but Sakura's had now changed to one of comprehension, then to curious. She looked at me through inquisitive eyes.

"Just where exactly are we?" Sai asked, looking thoroughly undisturbed by his predicament. I inwardly applauded the guy.

"Australia"

"…where?" I cracked up at their expressions.

"Hehe…" I wiped a few tears from my eyes, forcing down the laughter that bubbled up as I looked at them. "Australia…you're not the first ones here" I smirked.

"Who else is here?" Sakura asked.

"Uh…" I mumbled "…som-some one"

"As in…" Kakashi put in helpfully.

"Look" I sighed. "This is a different world, and if you want to get back to Fire country, you're gonna have to stick to your allies…even if you don't like them" I added the last part under my breath.

"Just tell us already" Naruto bounced up and down, impatient like always.

… "Akatsuki"

…

I groaned at the four blades that were pointed in my direction. "And that's what I get for being honest" I snapped, annoyed at myself.

"Why are the Akatsuki here? Did they follow Naruto?" Sakura yelled, eyes flashing. I looked at her in disbelief.

"What, did you leave your brains back home or something? Just where do you think you are?" I shouted back. No more 'Ms. Nice girl'. These idiots had to see that they weren't in 'ninja-land' anymore.

"You idiots!"

"SHUT UP" she screamed, flinging the pointy thing at a ridiculously fast speed. I blinked, surprised, and then closed my eyes waiting for pain to bloom. A few seconds later, when I didn't feel any different, I opened my eyes.

"Whew" Deidara's blonde hair moved to a side as he turned to smirk at me. "That was a close call, un"

"What are you Konoha nins doing here?" Pein's neutral voice sounded from the tree line. Slowly, he stepped forwards into the clearing, along with Konan, Itachi, Sasori and Tobi. Rinnegan eyes focused themselves on Naruto.

"You" Naruto hissed, teeth bore in a snarl.

"OI" I yelled, running from behind Deidara. I waved my arms, planting myself between the two. "No fighting" I pointed an authoritative finger at Naruto.

"Says who" he yelled back.

"Me!"

"Oh yeah? Well, who the hell is going to listen to you? You can't even dodge a kunai" Sakura joined in.

"You will do nothing to her" Konan glided to my side. She placed a hand on my shoulder. "She's the only one who can help us…and you" she said.

"Yeah, right" Naruto snorted in disbelief. "You're just saying that to get Kyuubi" he yelled.

"No" Pein moved to my otherside. He locked eyes with Kakashi. "We're not hunting the Bijuu, now. Right now, we're more focused on getting back home"

Kakashi's grip on the kunai handle tightened. "So…so this really isn't the Fire country" he said, very reluctantly.

Pein sighed, closing his eyes. "Unfortunately, no" he agreed. He then turned to me. "Are you going to offer them a place to stay?"

I hesitated, my mind imagining all the possible destruction that could happen to my house. "Um…if both you guys promise to behave".

"You mean like a temporary truce?" Sai noted. I nodded.

"Yeah…although…" I trailed off, shifting under everyone's attention.

"Although what?"

"Although I would like it to become permanent" I muttered, red in the face.

… "Yeah, right" Naruto glared at the Akatsuki.

"I thought so" I sighed, then shrugged. "Come on" I motioned to the four new arrivals "let's get you some place to sleep".

As I picked my way through the forest, accompanied by nine ninjas, I realized a very important fact. _If the sane Akatsuki's here,_ I looked horror-struck towards our destination, _then that means that three of the most insane ninjas are in the same room as Laura_. I whimpered as I reached the end.

"What?" the escorts turned to look at me. "What's wrong?"

"They're in the house with Laura" I whispered, trembling in terror. "T-this is not going to end well" I burst out into a sprint, desperate to reach the house.

"Huh?" I heard the general confusion sound, before another shrill sound echoed in the air.

Charging through the door, I immediately headed for the kitchen. Black smoke poured out through the doorway. A huge silhouette grew clearer as I got closer.

Kisame coughed and waved his hand in front of his face, attempting in vain to clear a little of the contaminated air.

"What the hell happened here, un?" Deidara choked out.

A feeling of utmost foreboding grew in my mind. "I think I know" I whispered, terrified at what I might find. As I rounded to the kitchen, I almost passed out.

Laura turned and saw me, and laughed. She rubbed the back of her head, very much like Naruto.

"So" she said brightly, one hand still in her hair, the other…holding a smoking piece of blackened toast. She completely disregarded the saucepan that was now holding blue flames. "You hungry?"

… "OUT!" _Why me?_ I sent a silent plea skyward as Tobi shot past screeching.


	3. Chapter 3

AUTHOR: I have to thank 'Prince of Tennis' and to the reviewers for giving me the…push…to keep writing. I'll try to comply with your…suggestions. Also, does anyone know how to make those page breakers?

NARUTO: AAAHHHH! STORY-TELLER666 CHAN IS BACK!

AUTHOR: BAKA! Don't scream in my ear! _Anyway_, to the disclaimer: I don't own Na-

SAKURA: YAY! STORY-TELLER666 CHAN IS BACK!

AUTHOR: SHUT UP! *sighs* Back to what I was saying…I don't o-

TOBI: STORY-TELLER666 CHAN! *glomp* YOU'RE BACK!

AUTHOR: WILL YOU IDIOTS LET ME FINISH? I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

OTHERS: …fine…but you don't have to yell…

AUTHOR: *cries* Why…why me?

**Chapter 3**

I paced around the room, feeling two sets of eyes on me…or more accurately, on the back of my head. Completely disregarding the onlookers, I wrenched open the cupboard door, glanced at its contents and slammed the door shut again.

I looked back at them as Sakura stood up, scrapping her chair away from the table. Pink hair was brushed back as she glared first at Itachi and Deidara, positioned at the opposite side of the room, and then at me.

"Just what the hell is going on here?" she pointed a finger. Cheeks coloured as green eyes flared with fury.

"Shut up" I muttered, getting more and more pissed with all the banshee sounds that were emitted from her mouth every time she opened it.

"If you just plant your ass back on the chair, un, maybe we'll try to explain the situation to you in idiot terms" Deidara shot back, clearly pushed beyond his limits, too. Immediately Naruto shot up to – predictably – defend Sakura.

"HEY! DON'T TALK TO SAKURA CHAN LIKE THAT"

"Make me, un"

"Rasengan!" a bright blue spinning sphere formed, sending shimmering blue light dancing around the room walls and ceiling.

"NO" I wailed, getting ready to jump on the stupid orange – dressed blonde. "MY HOUSE!" I managed one step, before being pulled back against something hard.

"Are you insane? Or plain stupid?" Itachi asked, an expression of mild curiosity visible. I struggled madly against his iron grip, too horrified to even realize that I was being held against his rock – hard chest. (A/N: *drools*)

"Shut up" eyes were still fixed on the chakra in Naruto's hand. "NARUTO, I SWEAR BY ALL GODS – INCLUDING JASHIN – IF THAT CHAKRA BALL ENDS UP BLOWING UP MY HOUSE, I'LL _CASTERATE _YOU!"

Silence fell as everyone in the room slowly recovered from the shock. I sighed, and slumped, with relief as the destructive technique died out; then became increasingly aware of the looks of surprise, wonder and fear directed at me.

"Didn't think you'd know a word like that, freak – show" Sai murmured, a fake – sarcastic smirk on his pale face. I scowled at the nickname.

"W-w-wow" Naruto stuttered from behind Sakura, who was still as a statue.

"I-I agree" Deidara edged out the door.

My face started to heat up as I became conscious of the scene I'd created. I squirmed, and then blinked as Itachi's arms fell away. Surprised I looked at the Uchiha to see his wide eyes staring at me.

"What?"

Sides of his lips twitched, and Itachi quickly turned to hide his face – but not before I glimpsed a smile that showed. A slow smile unfurled on my face, before I completely gave into a fit of giggles.

"Well, it seemed a little quiet" Kakashi commented as he strolled into the room, closely followed by Pein. The air between the two seemed a little tense, but they seemed to have come to a mutually understanding – and by that, I mean they weren't trying to rip each other's throats out.

Pein looked from me to Itachi and finally to the shaking Naruto and frozen Sakura. "What happened? Where's Deidara?" he glanced around for the bomber, a frown gracing his features.

"He left" Sai replied, all traces of amusement gone from his face. He watched his team leader. Kakashi obviously understood the silent message, for he sighed and indicated towards the chairs with a nod.

"Sit down you three. There's something I wanted to talk to you lot about" he turned his visible eye towards me. "And you need to sit with us, as well"

"Why?" Itachi placed a hand on my shoulder, his voice dead again.

"Hey" I shrugged and smiled at the protective gesture "Chill. It'll be cool"

"Hn"

"Good boy"

An eye twitched.

Kakashi watched the exchange in interest, and then settled himself in one of the available seats. "Naruto, Sakura, Sai – sit" he ordered.

"Kakashi sensei, what's going on?" Sakura whispered, darting glances at me every now and then – it was like she thought I was going to suddenly rush at her and claw her eyes out.

Kakashi gave an exaggerated sigh, but I saw his eye flick to the doorway. I followed his gaze and saw that the room was empty except for the four people I sat with.

"We've arrived in another world" a frustrated hand ran through the silver hair. "I can't work out how, or why, but we're definitely not in Oto anymore".

"Wait…" cerulean eyes narrowed. "What about Sasuke and Orochimaru?" Naruto spat out the last name, taking me aback with the venom in his voice. I stared at the angry guy, worried, my mind instantly registering his anger management problems and their consequences.

"Gomen, Naruto" Kakahi placed a stern look on his student. "But you're going to have to focus on finding a way to get back – before thinking of ways in which to track down and bring Sasuke back".

Naruto glared back at his teacher. I silently sent a plea to the Copy Cat Nin, beseeching that he didn't make Naruto go into Kyuubi mode and rampage through the country. That would be more that what I'd been able to handle. The staring contest continued for a few minutes, neither party willing to back down. Suddenly, Naruto sighed and dropped his eyes, wilting like all the fight had been drained from him.

"Fine" he muttered, eyes hidden by locks of soft blonde spikes.

"Naruto" I began hesitantly, unsure of his reaction. Sympathy shot through me as I noted at how vulnerable the boisterous blonde looked now. "Listen, I know that we're still getting to know each other…but I think that you should stop running after Sasuke so much. I'm sure he'll come back once he's-"

Immediately his head snapped up, and blazing eyes took me silenced me midway.

"Shut up" Naruto hissed. "Just s_hut up_. You don't know _anything_ about Sasuke. SO DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" he shot up from the table and was out the door in two seconds flat.

I sat still, breaths coming out shallow and fast. The temper was something that I'd expected, but the anger and sadness and _hate_ caught me off guard. My mind reeled as the detesting look appeared in front of my mind's eye once again. I felt a shudder run through me.

Another sound made me look at Sakura. She rose up, and with a haughtily disgusted glance, she followed Naruto. The two remaining males watched me through expressionless eyes.

By now, my shock had worn off. Anger filled my chest and I glared at the door.

"Whatever" fighting against the urge to hurl insults at someone, I stomped out of the room. Fists were clenched tightly, and my arms held tightly against my sides, resisting the temptation to throw things – preferably those kunais and shurikens, which were now so abundant in my home.

"Tara chan, what happened?" Tobi scurried forwards, arms held out. I barely registered the other nine presences behind him.

"Nothing" I snapped, relieving some of the fury that was pending up inside. "Just leave me alone. I – I'm not feeling well" I brushed past the crowd that had accumulated and ran into my room, making sure to slam the door shut before falling face first onto my mattress.

"ARGH!" the scream seemed to siphon some of my frustration away.

I woke up with a start. Beadily staring around the half lit room, I stared at the clock, trying to register the time it displayed. When a few moments of gaping didn't do much, I struggled up into a sitting position and yawned. Slowly, I dragged myself down the stairs and into the kitchen.

My stomach rumbled in anticipation. "I know" I said. Rubbing my eyes, I walked in…then froze as I locked eyes with Naruto. A sudden urge to turn and go back the way I came surged through me. Then I stopped.

_Hang on a second, this is my house! I'll go where ever damn well I want_. Jaw set in determination, I raised my chin and continued towards the fridge, completely ignoring the surrounding people.

"Um…" a hesitant voice began. Still angry, I pretended not to hear the attempt at conversation, and continued with my tasks. Someone coughed, trying to disperse the awkward atmosphere.

"Ano" Naruto began again, rubbing the back of his head. I watched him unmoving. "Listen…I'm sorry about before. It's just frustrating – that idiotic teme won't even listen to us! And with all this shit" he waved an angry arm around the room "it's really confusing me". He sighed and looked directly into my eyes.

"I'm really, really sorry" he bowed his head.

I stood there silently, the apology still being processed through my head. His sincere tone, and the genuine regret in his eyes finally won me over. I reached up and messed up his already messy hair.

I grinned at him "That's ok". Slowly an answering grin grew on Naruto's face. The whiskers scrunched up, as the familiar expression increased in intensity.

The sound of another person approaching made us both look towards the source. Sakura hesitantly stepped up next to Naruto. She pressed her lips together, staring at the floor.

"Gomenesai" she mumbled. Amusement welled up inside me as I looked at the diminutive kunoichi.

"Well," I drawled. Sakura's head snapped up. "You'll have to compensate me for the kunai from before" I inspected my nails.

…"How?" 

I didn't need to see the devilish look which I knew had spread across my face. I grinned, not missing the wary stance from the two ninjas. With an exaggerated stretch, I strolled towards the sink.

Naruto faltered in his step, and Sakura didn't (or couldn't) hide her horror at the sight of the huge tower of dirty dishes that tottered in the sink. I took a moment to enjoy the sight, before clearing my throat.

"You can start with the dishes" I jerked a nonchalant thumb towards the looming heap.

"E-e-excuse m-me?"

I wagged a disapproving finger in Sakura's face. "Tut, tut. No complaining…you almost took my life".

The pinkette blinked, then her eyes narrowed. She glared at me for moments, before sighing. "I suppose" she gave the pile one last despairing look, then picked up a plate.

"Good" I gave a nod of approval, and then raised an eyebrow at the still stunned Naruto. "You wanna help, too?"

Instantly the blonde snapped out of his trance. He shook his head ferociously, and then all but flash stepped to the safety offered in the living room. I gave a laugh, and walked out the door.

"This might not be so bad" I sighed contentedly. Sakura gave a snort of disbelief.

"Yeah, right" I smirked at her reply.

"Yep" after a quick rummage in the pantry, I gravitated towards the TV. "Life's good!"

RING RING…RING RING…RI-

"WHAT?" I was not in a happy mood. Dragging an enormous bundle of drenched towels across to the laundry, I snapped into the receiver I'd balanced between by head and shoulder.

"Uh…Tara?" the voice sounded vaguely familiar.

"Spit it out!"

"TARA! You remember me? Huh, huh…guess who?" the expectant silence lingered.

"…um…"

"AW, COME ON! _Don't_ tell me you forgot!" I couldn't get the speaker away from my abused ear fast enough. "It's me…drumroll, please…_Echizen Ryoma_!" 

"…just who is this?"

A huff sounded from the other end. "Derek!" a guy's voice whined. A lightbulb immediately flashed inside my head.

"OH MY GOD! HI" I screamed, throwing myself onto the couch. Wriggling around to get rid of the lumps and bumps that were sticking into me, I continued to chat with my long-time-no-see/hear pal. "It's been _ages_!"

"Tell me 'bout it" he laughed. "But the real reason I called was to see if you wanted a game tomorrow."

"Game?"

"Yeah, me and a whole bunch of other guys are getting together. The holidays got a bit boring…so we figured we'd try and break an arm or something, get a few weeks off school…you know how it goes" I could see the shrug that accompanied the last few words.

"Hmm…" I pondered. "Veeeery appealing."

"Please" he pleaded. "We were thinking soccer and basketball and tennis and…and…"

"M'kay" I chirped. It would good to see those people again. "I'll bring a few people, too. Is that cool?"

"The more the merrier"

"Wow" I said, laughing. "Do you realize how weird that is, hearing you say that?"

"SHUT UP!" Derek screamed indignantly. "I shall see _you_ tomorrow, then"

The dial tone sounded. I pulled the receiver from my ear and stared at it for a few moments. Then let out a cheer and ran outside to inform the ninjas about the outing.

"So remind me again why the fuck I'm doing this?" Hidan grumbled, tugging at his collar. The Jashin worshipper had a scowl on his face as he strode down the street.

"'Cause dear Pein-sama thinks its time you lot learned how to socialize" I replied, not bothering to make eye contact.

"…we socialize" Sasori defended himself. His wooden joints were hidden beneath the rolled up sleeves of the blue and white checkered shirt he adorned.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "Ok, when was the last time any of you went to a party?"

"…"

"Yeah, didn't think so".

"So where exactly are we going?" Sakura asked. Ever since our little chat, the pinkette and I had become quite friendly towards one another. And although they remained wary of the Akatsuki, the Konoha nins had come to somewhat accept the fact that they'd be living with the criminals for a while – whether they liked it or not.

I grinned and rubbed my hands together, giving Naruto a reason to blanche. Tobi pointed wildly at my face.

"IT'S THE EVIL LOOK!"

Flapping a hand at him, I literally cackled. "You're going to get your asses handed to you!"

"Excuse me?" Itachi interrupted politely. His expression was mildly curious. I smirked at the Uchiha.

"You heard me"

… "By whom, exactly?" Konan crossed her arms. I shrugged, not wanting to give out too much information. Had to keep the suspense…it's not everyday you get to play mind games with fourteen odd ninjas.

"Here we are" I exclaimed after twenty minutes of relatively peaceful walking.

"Er…where are we?" Naruto asked, staring confusedly at the fence. I smiled and grabbed his hand.

"Let's go, Naruto-chan" I cheered, and dragged the blonde to the hole in the wire. Using both hands, I tugged and pulled at the stubborn material until it formed a small opening. Ducking down, I crawled to the other side, and bounced up to my feet, waving to my companions who were watching me.

"Come on, you lot"

After exchanging many glances between each other, and with a few cautious looks down the empty street, the ninjas crouched and jumped over the wire-fence in twos and threes. I pouted and crossed my, sulking. Kisame grinned at my expression, and ruffled my hair.

"Not as smart as you look, are you?" he asked, earning a few snickers from Naruto and Deidara, and a smirk from Hidan, Pein and Itachi.

"Whatever" I huffed. Eager to move on, I hurried forward. Dodging around a few rusty barrels and large bins, I lead the team to an open space – the grass was wilting and yellow, the crunch of the dead plants could be heard under our feet. Two soccer goals were visible, one on either side of the field. To the right was two worn tennis courts; the white markings on the ground were light, but the net seemed to be in good condition. Towards the left of the field was another fence. This time, however, an open gate was available. A concrete basketball court with faded court lines was occupied with a group of four guys and a girl.

"HEY" a brunette jogged to us, grinning so widely it was close to Lee's blinding smile. Derek's casual slacks and t-shirt hung off his lanky frame, contributing to his roughish appearance.

"About time you got here" he mirrored Tobi's excited bounce. I laughed, filled with pleasure at seeing an old friend.

"Nice ta see you too" I said, reaching out to give him a hug. After getting my ribs appropriately bruised, I turned my attention to the other four who, by now, had made their way to my group.

"Hi Tara" Sam Wellington slapped me five, shaking his long ebony locks out of his clear aqua eyes. His lopsided smile once had me crushing on the boy. But after a rejection, we'd decided that friends would be the best thing for both of us.

"Hey Sammy" I replied. "How's life?"

"Meh…same shit, different day" he quoted. I smirked.

"I know wha'ya mean" I sympathized.

"Tara" Will Harrison nodded in my direction. His serious gaze didn't falter as he cast a questioning eye on my cohort. Dark brown eyes roamed across the group, almost lazily. But I knew that he'd notice the smallest detail – he was, literally, the Australian version of Shikamaru.

"Will, how're you?"

"Good, good"

"Tara, what's up my girl?" Rickie gave the group a cheerful wave as he joined us. Wrapping an arm around my shoulders, he lead me a little way away from the others.

"Do they" he indicated with his head "know what they're in for?" 

I smiled. "Hope so…for their sake"

"Mm hm" he nodded approval. I turned back to see Laura in deep conversation with Konan and Sakura. All three had a relaxed air around them; I could see the slight smiles on all their faces.

_At least they look like their having fun_ I sighed.

"Tara, come on" Derek motioned me closer to the massive huddle of males. Striding over, I took note of the range of colours in the group; dark, light and blue-ish skins contrasted against bright and dull shirts.

"We're picking teams for the soccer match" Will informed me.

"Great" I enthused.

"Bags Naruto on my team" Rickie claimed. He grinned at the confused blonde.

"Umm…I don't know how to play" Naruto rubbed the back of his head. Derek's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?" he cried. When nobody answered, he muttered something about 'not knowing how to play soccer is capital punishment' and ran to get the ball from the sidelines.

"OK" he fixed a stern eye on the ninjas. "Listen up, you lot. This is a soccer ball. Main aim of the game: get the most goals within 90 minutes. You can't touch the ball with your hands or arms."

"That's in a nutshell" Sam said, snatching the ball from Derek. He dropped it and started to bounce it, alternating feet.

"Here, catch"

The ball flew to me. Reacting instantly, I trapped it, then flicked it onto to my head. After balancing it there for a few moments, I let it fall, kicking it back to Sam who caught it.

"Nice to see you've still got it" he smirked appreciatively. I smirked back.

"Hear, hear".

"Wow, Tara chan" Naruto and Deidara looked like twins, both sporting huge shining clear blue eyes, popped wide open in surprise. "That was amazing".

Hidan scowled. "Not really" he muttered, then got smacked upside on the head by Kakuzu. "WHAT?"

"Shut up" the money-lover stated calmly. Hidan crossed his arms and settled for a sulk, all the while keeping a wary eye on his partner's hands.

"Anyway…TEAMS!" Rickie announced loudly. He pointed at me. "Tara, you're captain" he whirled and pointed to Pein. "You're also captain" he declared.

Most of the others shrugged and bunched up together. I turned to Pein.

"Ladies first" he gestured.

"Thanks" I scoffed. Then I narrowed my eyes at the males. "Umm…Tobi"

"YEAH! THANKS TARA CHAN" Tobi glomped me. I coughed, and pushed the man off me.

"Gerroff me" I mumbled through a mouthful of clothes. After dusting off myself, with as much dignity as I could muster, I frowned at the sniggering boys.

"I think it's Pein _sama's_ turn" I crossed my arms.

Rinnegan eyes flashed with slight annoyance, before swiveling to focus on the male group.

"You" he finally pointed at Derek. The said guy made a face at the reference.

"Name's Derek, not you"

"Hn"

"Jerk" Derek scowled.

Sniggering, I looked chose my second team member. "Sai"

"So let me get this straight" Kisame pinched the bridge of his nose. "You kick the ball into the goal…and you do that as many times as possible?"

"Yep, that's the gist of it" I chirped back.

"…why?" Sasori asked. Not for the first (or last) time, I internally bashed myself up for picking him as a teammate.

"Because that's the aim of the game" I replied, praying that my patience would hold a little longer – just until we started to kick the ball.

"Seems pointless, don't you think?" Itachi asked.

"Shut it, Mr Prodigy" I snapped. "I bet the most fun you hand was having a literature discussion with 60 year old geezers"

"They're quite fascinating" he defended.

… "I _so_ hope you're joking" I sweatdropped. When he didn't reply, I cringed. "_Dude,_ what the hell did your father make you do? You're so…so…" I struggled to summarize Itachi's lack of fun in one word.

"Un-fun?" Rickie put helpfully.

"Yeah"

"Is that even a word?" Will cocked an eyebrow.

"It is now" I concluded. "Back to the game" I drew everyone's attention to the main topic on hand.

Hidan yawned and stretched his arms over his head, clearly bored with the proceedings. "I think everyone gets the fucking point" he growled. "And if they don't, too fucking bad!"

"I'm inclined to agree" I nodded, receiving a few incredulous looks.

"Heh, they're on the same page" Sai noted.

"Yeah. Never thought I'd see the day, kiddo" Kisame winked.

"Whatever"

"ARE YOU GUYS READY, OR WHAT?" Derek's scream blasted all our eardrums. Grumbling about loud idiots (Naruto, Tobi and Deidara got glares), the soccer match participants trooped onto the dead grass playing field.

"We got this end" Sam jerked a thumb towards the goalposts behind him.

"Cool"

"And we get the ball" I spun it on my index finger.

"Fine, we'll just have to get it back" Pein noted coolly, a competitive edge in his tone. I grinned at him and let the ball drop with a muffled thump on the field.

"Give it your best shot" with a quick kick to Tobi, I sprinted towards our designated goal. _Show time_.

Deidara and Naruto were giggling like mad. Tobi kept sprinting up a few hundred meters ahead, and then came running back to group, only to run off again. I sighed wearily, running a hand through the black sweaty jumble that was now my hair. Hearing a similar sigh, I turned to smile up at Kisame, having to tilt my head almost all the way back to see his face.

"Something wrong?"

He glanced down at me, looking almost surprised at the question. "Actually, I was thinking how much fun that was" he said, referring to the match. I chuckled, remembering the event from a few minutes ago.

"It _was_ fun" I admitted. "Especially when Hidan got tackled by Derek" I started to laugh, picturing the moment.

"Yeah…didja see it when Itachi got the ball stolen off him by that Sam guy?" Kisame laughed, ignoring the glare he got from his partner. The Uchiha's reaction made me laugh even harder. When he saw that he was digging a hole for himself, Itachi huffed and turned to nurse his wounded pride.

"How could anyone miss that?" I managed between squeals. I was almost on the floor, my stomach aching.

"It wasn't as funny as Sasori getting trampled by Sakura and Laura" Hidan piped up. The Jashinist-extremist bared his teeth in a menacing grin.

"It must have been terrifying to see the two girl stampede heading towards you" I watched Sasori's reaction to Konan's comment. Sakura cast a nervous glance at the puppet master, and then sent a silent plea to me.

"T-two g-g-girl stamp-p-ede" Deidara squealed through his giggles, making Naruto quake even more with silent laughter. I let out a guffaw.

"You shouldn't be one to talk, Deidara" Sasori turned his unruffled expression to the blonde. "Didn't you miss the ball you were aiming for?" he didn't bother to hide the smirk that played up.

The whole group burst at this. Even Pein managed a genuine smile of mirth. Deidara flushed scarlet, then vented his embarrassment by bashing Tobi on the head as he ran past.

"OW! SEMPAI, YOU'RE SO MEAN"

"SUCK IT UP, UN"

I smiled, watching the nins interact with each other. It was easy to see how at ease the Konoha nins were with the Akatsuki; almost like they were from the one place. _Funny how people just get along when they're not constantly being reminded that they're enemies_.

"They're not that bad" Kakashi's voice succeeded in giving a mild heart attack. Massaging the area above the location of my heart, I glared at the masked ninja.

"What?"

The uncovered eye ran a critical eye across the miniature battle ensuing within the group: Naruto and Deidara were clinging to each other while cackling away like crazy; Sai and Sasori stood side by side, shoulders almost touching, as they watched their respective teammates; Sakura and Konan looked at the two laughing idiots and then simultaneously turned to each other and shook their heads.

"So, you believe they're human, now?" I joked. Kakashi looked back at me.

"The more you read their history, the more you come to see them as monsters" he explained in a grave tone. "They've killed, Tara. Don't forget that."

"So what you do is completely justified? Don't you kill too? And have you bothered to ask their side of the story?" I was getting angry. I'd always felt that Kakashi assumed that only the nins from Konoha and the villages alliances were in the right. I'm not the craziest Akatsuki fan, but even I wasn't in favour of how the other characters in the show deemed the members as evil- they most of the time, they weren't even aware of the two sides until after they'd attacked and/or killed the other party.

"I'm not trying to justify what I do, or have done" Kakashi replied. "But you should remember that you're associating with a bunch of murders"

I gritted my teeth, stubbornly refusing to spill out the fury-filled retort I had in mind. Inhaling deeply, I fixed a steady gaze on the Copy Cat Nin.

"One: my business who I associate with. And the murders category would also include you and your team – maybe not Naruto, can't see him killing an ant, let alone a person. And two: I have some idea of what most of you've gone through. So I kinda understand the reason why they've gone down the path they have" I paused, watching what little expression I could glimpse in the eyes. Then I softened my tone.

"You told Team 7 that people who leave their mission is trash, but those who leave their teammates are below trash" I saw the surprise when I quoted his words. "Don't you think that it maybe applies to the Akatsuki too?"

Kakashi met my eye. We stood there, staring at each other; me willing the ninja to understand the mistake in his assumptions, and him trying to decipher the hidden meaning in my words.

"HEY SENSEI! LET'S GO ALREADY" apparently Naruto had recovered from his giggle-attack. Startled, Kakashi and I blinked back at the group who had already moved a few meters down the road.

"Aah" Kakashi replied, placing a hand behind his head. He walked a few steps towards the crowd, but suddenly stopped and looked back at me.

"I think I see where you're going with this" he said slowly, as though carefully choosing the words. "I'll rethink this…things" his eye crinkled in a smile.

I blinked again, processing what the Copy nin had just said. As the meaning became clearer, a beam unfurled on my face.

"Good" I shouted at his back. "About time you did" a lazy hand acknowledged my response. I jogged to catch up with the others.

"What was that about?" Sakura queried. I waved it off, the smile still in place.

"Oh nothing" I watched the sinking sun and it's blood red glow. "Just rethinking…things"

I'm sorry this chapter is sorta short…but my brain is mush at the moment. My final exams are coming up and so the next chapter won't be up for a while. So…here's an apology in advance.

Thank you again to all my reviewers. Hope you've enjoyed what I've put up so far…and be sure to read my other story/ies.


	4. Chapter 4

SASORI: Alright…what the hell am I doing here? *glares at everything in view*

AUTHOR: SASORI CHAN! *glomp*

SASORI: ARRRGGH!...Oh, it's only you.

AUTHOR: Whadda ya mean 'it's only you'?

SASORI: *shifty looks* …ugh…nothing…

AUTHOR: *pouts*

KISAME: *walks into the frame swinging his sword in his hand* Samehade's hungry!

AUTHOR: Feed him *chucks a packet of chips to the shark man*

KISAME: …um…I said _Samehade_'s hungry…*silence*…he eats chakra, not *looks at the cover* BBQ flavoured chips.

AUTHOR: Oh! Sorry, I thought you were talking about Choji.

CHOJI: *magically appears out of thin air* BBQ CHIPS! *grabs at the packet*

AUTHOR: *swipes the packet before Choji gets it* NOT until you say the disclaimer.

CHOJI: OK! Story-teller 666 chan doesn't own Naruto. If she did, Sasuke wouldn't be such a jerk, Itachi would get a _lot_ more air time and the Konoha Council would be made to suffer for what they did to the hottie of an Uchiha prodigy. NOW, GIMME!

AUTHOR: Good boy *hands over the chips pats the chomping Choji's head* Enjoy the chappie!

* * *

"I can't believe the holidays are already over!" I shouted, throwing my arms exasperatedly into the air. I glared at the brightly shining sun, not at all happy by the cheerful weather which was contrasting quite sharply against my mood. After a full two minutes of attempted clouding of the light, I huffed and contented myself with a kick at the dead, dry leaves that littered the forest floor.

"I gather you're not happy" Sasori noted. A smirk of amusement lingered on the corners of his mouth, as the puppet master relaxed against a tree trunk.

"No, you reckon?" heavy sarcasm dripped off my reply.

"What's got you in a foul mood?" Sakura piped up from over my head. I peered upward to the branch above my head. The pinkette was crouching on the tree next to Konan. The two females had become very close over the few months the nins had been in my house.

It's been almost two months since the Konoha ninjas had entered this world. My summer break had flown by; showing these guys how things worked in a universe without chakra was fun and exhausting, to say in the least. I'd also had to stop Naruto and Tobi going completely bananas and start destroying the place more times than I could count. How those two keep their energy levels that high, I'll never find out. But I know its not sugar. The first time the two idiots ran around like headless chickens for one day, I constantly checked the sugar levels in my sugar jar.

And then there is Pein's and Kakashi's constant questioning about how each and every household item worked. I had to wrestle the TV from Pein's hands when he wanted to take apart the thing – "To see the insides".

"Over my damn dead body!" I'd yelled at him when he remarked how easy it would be take apart one of my treasured possessions.

And Kakashi was not better. He saw my desktop one day, and oh my Jashin (HELP! Hidan's craziness' affected me!) – how the hell he managed to survive all these years will be nothing short of a miracle. The stupid nin wouldn't move an inch from his spot until I showed him the – and I quote – "strangeness" of technology.

The others were a bit more endurable. Itachi, Konan and Sasori became my unofficial councilors. I bitched, ranted and raved about the insanities I'd dealt with during the day, and usually one of the three mentioned would be in hearing proximity. Itachi would 'Hn' every five seconds – I doubt he listened to a word I said. Konan would smile and nod, clearly understanding the frustration I felt. Sasori usually smirked and made rather cynical observations, but sometimes he would offer advice. I don't know if it was their responses or just the fact that I could screech at someone, but it kept me from binding and gagging the two blondes and one swirly-masked guy.

The remaining four became somewhat of an _odd_ company. Sai was still as blunt and fake-smiling as ever. But this time, he added Hidan to his list of 'people to infuriate just by talking'. Everyday it became a ritual to hear Hidan swear at Sai – a lot more than at Kakazu – and then run for his scythe only to discover that Zetsu's hidden his three-bladed weapon under my orders. The stupid worshipper didn't seem to understand the meaning of 'no sacrifices'. So I took…radical…measures. And once the purple-eyed idiot realizes this, he runs to wring my neck. I think I owe Kakazu $100, just for immobilizing Hidan, keeping him from killing me about five times already. If this continues4, I'll be broke before half the school year.

But back to the present. I opened my mouth to give an angry response, but was stopped by a blur of yellow and orange. What happened next, I can't remember. But when I sat up, I had leaves in my mouth, and the two guys on top of me were crushing my ribs.

"GET THE HELL OFF ME!" I shoved, and scrambled out from under the pile up.

"NARUTO! TOBI! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?"

"Wouldn't be a bad idea" Hidan scowled and picked himself off the ground. He'd fallen off his branch when I screamed.

"TOBI'S SORRY, TARA CHAN!" he jumped up and down, and did a lot of hand movements. "BUT TOBI CAME TO TELL YOU THAT THERE'S SOMEONE AT THE DOOR!"

"YEAH, YEAH! WHAT HE SAID" Naruto pointed, grinning blindingly.

I sighed and shook my head, defeated. _What's the point?_ Wallowing in self-pity, I walked back to the house. I was jerked out of my gloom by the door bell. Whoever was at the door was getting impatient.

"What?" I snapped. Then stuttered to a halt. "O-Oh, M-M-Mrs. H-h-h-hop-k-kins".

My inspector from the Children's Welfare council peered at me over the rim of her enormously outsize specs. Her vehemently red lips were pinched together and her critical grey eyes narrowed as they took in my messy hair bun, slacks, tee and runners. Her already pinched face scrunched up even more.

"Ms. Nozomi, I hope this isn't an inconvenient time" she said, stepping into the house. Sticking her over-powdered nose up, she cast a disgusted eye around the small entrance hall.

"Er…um…nope…" I gave an attempt to smile. The grimace faded when she didn't change expression. Suppressing the angry that bubbled at the superior air around her, I led her into the living room.

"Would you like something to drink?" I asked. I'm not one for over-rated politeness, but if being nice and really host-ish would diminish the chances of me getting into trouble, then I was all for it.

"No, thank you. I'm on a strict diet. I doubt there would be anything that I could…drink"

_One nil to Mrs. Horrors_. I gritted my teeth as I bore them in a grin.

"I'd like to check over the property" she pulled out her clipboard and clicked a pen. Without a glance at me, Mrs. Hopkins strode to the back door and flung it open. She stopped short and stared into the forest, clearly trying to decipher a movement which had caught her eye.

"What was that?"

"What?" I made my eyes as round and innocent looking as possible. Inwardly cursing the ninjas hidden within the tree, I moved to the other side of the house, hoping to draw her attention away from the forest. "Don't you want to check here, too?"

She didn't move from her spot, eyes still fixated intently into the thicket. "If there's wild animals around here, I'll have to report it" she concluded somewhat reluctantly. After a final suspicious glance at the surroundings, she walked through the rest of the property, taking her own sweet time.

"Well, all seems to be in order" it sounded like she was getting her teeth pulled out. The pained acceptance, that all was in accordance with the criteria, seemed to be killing her.

"That's awesome" I ran a hand through the tangled mess of hair, maintaining a straight face with a lot of difficulty. You had to give me credit for not breaking into the Maccarina right then and there.

"Hmph" Mrs. Hopkins gave a goodbye snort and marched into her dull maroon car. The revving engine drowned out my small cheer.

"We shall send someone around in a few months" she screeched over the sound. Then, with a loud bang and a huge cloud of dust, my inspector left.

"You guys can come out now" I yelled into the air, once the car disappeared into the horizon.

"Who the fuck was that?" Hidan demanded. He was a sporting a huge red bump on his forehead, evidence of the earlier mishap.

"_That_ was Mrs. Hitler, a.k.a Mrs. Hopkins" I grimaced.

"Why was she here? It looked like an inspection" Kakashi noted. His Cyclops-eye was quizzical.

"Well, here I'm a minor" I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "I'm legally an adult when I'm eighteen. Until then, the Child Welfare Agency's gonna send people to make sure that I haven't killed myself…or something along those lines, I think" I mumbled the last bit.

"When, exactly, are you turning eighteen?" Pein raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "3rd of August. That's in…" I counted on my fingers "…eight months, one day and…" a quick look at the clock "…fifteen hours".

A pause. "That's obsessive" Kisame offered.

"Is not!"

* * *

"ARE YOU LOT COMING OR WHAT?" I bellowed up the stairs. There was a clatter of feet, and Tobi came bounding down, taking two or three steps at a time.

"TOBI'S READY" he shrieked in my ears, successfully taking away what little hearing I had remaining. He hopped around the hallway, looking quite ludicrous in aqua coloured, yellow duck printed board shorts and baby blue shirt – a combination one would have expected from Naruto.

"DITTO, DATTEBAYO" Naruto announced, exclaiming his new catchphrase for all the world to hear. He ran up to me and screeched to a halt, and gave a spin. "Wha'cha think, Tara chan?" he grinned.

"Not bad" I nodded approval at his bright orange board shorts, and black and orange tiger-stripped shit. "At least it's not blinding" I added under my breath as Tobi danced past.

"Who or what the hell's got you pissed?" Hidan grumbled, stomping in to the room. I felt my eyes widen slightly as I took in his outfit: purple-grey shorts with a grey shirt. Although the colours looked like they were meant for girls, the Jashinist managed to make it sexy and very masculine.

"Like what you see?" he smirked, noticing my stare.

"Shut it" I closed my slightly open mouth and snapped my eyes away. "Let's go, already" I whined when no one else appeared.

"Coming, coming" Konan and Sakura waltzed down, taking their time and allowing me and the guys to gape at their attire.

"Holy Jashin" Hidan and I breathed in unison.

"Whew" Naruto let out a whistle.

Konan's figure – usually hidden under the cloak, pants and shirts – had enough to give Hinata a good run for her money. Curves were exactly where they were meant to be, and her skin glowed. Clad in a shirt the same colour as her hair, and a yellow sarong with green leaves on it, there was no mistaking her beauty.

Sakura's pink hair and emerald eyes sparkled, their colours emphasized all the more by the white shirt and light purple swim shorts. Although not as vulptuous as the female who stood next to her, the kunoichi's lithe figure was eye catching.

"You look cute, Sakura chan" our favourite gaki mumbled, blushing tomato red.

A giggle bubbled up inside me. I smirked at the stunned Naruto, and then turned to Sakura.

"Don't torture him anymore" I called up. "His head is going to combust and then he'll loose any brain cells he's got left". The others laughed, while Naruto squawked in protest.

"HEY!"

"Shall we leave?" Pein questioned, finally appearing at the top of the stairs. He strode towards us, clearly comfortable in his black pants and dark grey shirt. Itachi flanked his leader, dressed in black board shorts and navy blue shirt. Kakashi and Sasori came next, both ignoring their squabbling acquaintances. Deidara and Kisame looked to be on the verge of tearing limbs, while Sai smirked tauntingly. Zetzu hovered behind the trio, poised to break up any fist fights that might ensue, and Kakazu focused his attention on the note stack he clutched in his hand.

"Finally" I threw a frustrated hand in the air. "Let's go".

"YOSH! TO THE BEACH" Naruto and Tobi sprinted out the door.

* * *

I sighed as the wind pulled my black tresses off my hot face. A hand landed on the middle of my head, giving me good reason to scowl at the four innocent looking males who sat behind me. The bus gave a jolt, and once I'd recovered I returned to glaring.

"What?" I snapped.

Itachi gave me a blank look, then returned to his book. Kisame bared his teeth in a grin, while Sasori gave Deidara a pointed look. I turned my focus on the blonde.

"Dei kun, did you need something?" I didn't bother hiding my annoyance. My sweetly dangerous tone made the bomber hesitate.

"No, nothing" he replied, meekly sinking into his seat. Sasori gave an admiring look.

"Nice" he gave an approving mutter.

"Not nice, danna" Deidara whined. Another bump in the road made his teeth click together. I snickered as he grabbed his jaw with a moan.

"I think we're here" Itachi smoothly intervened before Deidara could tug the stray stands on my hair hanging over the back of my seat.

"YES!" I cheered along with Tobi and Naruto. There was a mad rush for the door – two blondes, one crazy-masked male and a…quirky…female almost crashed through the double doors. The driver barely managed to open them.

"Aaah!" Kisame sighed. He gave a content smile and dived into the salt water, splashing me. I squealed in delight, savouring the cooling sensation on my skin.

"You're such a kid" Deidara laughed as he waded into the sea. He had his fists clentched, and when I sent a suspicious glance towards them he smiled and held a finger to his lips. Then, taking careful aim, he lobbed two clay figurines – one fish and the other a bird – into the air. The fish fell with a plop, while the bird hovered in the air as though waiting for something.

"Kai" the blonde murmured, at the same time pulling me against his body in protective manner.

"Wha – " I broke off in a gasp as a huge water tower exploded into existence before my eyes. Kisame howled in fury, his yellow eyes immediately falling on Deidara.

"DEIDARA!" It's amazing loud Kisame can be when the need arises. The shark man twisted in the air, ready to lunge at Deidara when the bird bomb blasted him backwards. The second detonation seemed to stun the blue giant because he sank and stayed in the water for a few moments. Deidara took off, clearly understanding that he'd be sushi if he stayed in the water any longer.

I laughed, almost falling over in the water as Kisame ran past me. Not wanting to be involved in the promising brawl that would be developing in a matter of moments, I floated onto my back, letting the gentle current take where ever it wanted.

A shadow fell across my face. I squinted up, managing to get my feet onto the sand bed before I sank. Itachi smirked at me, clearly amused about something.

"What?" I touched my face, worried I had something on it.

"It's peaceful here" he commented casting a lazy eye at the vast blue ocean. Just then Kisame and Deidara splashed past, followed by a loudly cursing Hidan.

"GET YOU FUCKING PUNY ASSES BACK HERE, YOU RETARDS!"

"I stand corrected" Itachi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. I giggled then smirked mischievously.

"Oh, Itachi" I called in a sing-song voice. When the Uchiha turned to me, I swept a huge wave of water into his face. He stood still, soaking and glaring as water drops slid down his finely structured cheeks.

"Tara" he began in monotone.

"It's ok…free of charge. No need to thank me!" I laughed, swimming as fast as possible. When I deemed it safe, I slowed and threaded the water, all the while keeping a wary eye for the revenge seeking nin.

"You really don't know when to keep out of trouble, do you?" Itachi's voice sounded behind me. I squeaked and swallowed salty water as I turned towards him.

"N-no fair" I choked and spluttered. "You used ninja techniques!"

He chuckled, then with a swoop pulled me out. "Life's unfair" he informed me. As I sulked, he added "There's something I want you to see". A puff of smoke obscured my vision.

When the smoke cleared, I found myself at the top of a cliff. Far below, I could make out small figures splashing about in the water, while others dotted the yellow sand. The sky was slowly turning blood-red, the last few yellow rays of sunshine lightly scattered amongst the huge fluffy clouds.

"Wow" I gasped, true breathless at the beauty. "Never saw this before…and I've come here loads of times".

"Hmmm" Itachi murmured, settling down on the ground. His feet dangled off the edge, and he smiled up at me. "Sit down" he patted the space beside him.

A little taken aback by the un-Itachi type behaviour (I mean, come on, the guy smiled!), I sat cautiously. Gazing at his side profile, my mind wandered to the time of his death. I remembered how I cried when Sasuke stabbed him, swearing at the avenger and Kishimoto for killing off my absolute favourite character. Even now, I felt a pang as the panel with Itachi lying in a pool of his own blood flashed across my mind's eye.

"What's wrong?" the gentle question brought me back from my musings. A look of concern had entered Itachi's obsidian orbs.

"Nothing" I replied quickly, turning back to the orange-red sunset.

Silence followed, as the two of us watched the sinking sun. A gentle breeze blew, ruffling my loose hair, drying the wet strands. My fingers moved on their own, catching the few that blew across my eyes, and pushing them behind my ears.

"It couldn't have been nothing" the conversation continued. I looked at Itachi, my face heating up as I watched his slender pale fingers wind and twist my hair in between them. He titled his head, for the moment looking like a very handsomely curious boy, eyes fixed on my face.

I struggled against the urge to cover my face with my hands, embarrassed by the attention.

"Just forget it" I mumbled to my lap. I heard him chuckle. There was a whisper of cloth, as Itachi shifted. Then an arm encircled my shoulders, pulling me towards his strong body.

"Tell me" I heard his request through the pounding in my ears.

"Itachi" I whispered, breathing in his warm scent. The smell brought back the memory of his death, and this time the tears fell unhindered. I closed my eyes, hoping that the movement would stop the waterworks, but to no avail. Itachi must have felt the wetness; he gently pulled back and tilted my face up.

"What's up?" his worried tone fed my sadness.

"W-why?" I asked in a broken voice.

"…why what?" he prompted.

"Why are torturing him and yourself like this? It's killing him…making him do and say things he'll regret…"

I felt him stiffen, his hands slightly clenching as they held my face.

"How much do you know?" he asked all warmth and comfort gone from his voice. The cold and stiff tone made me look into his dead eyes.

"A lot" I paused, waiting for his reaction. By now, I'd also started to feel a small niggle of apprehension. I'd never seen Itachi furious; his eyes were like pitch black whirlpools, his face stone still and icy cold. If I had to, I'd choose Orochimaru's scary look to this any day.

"And what exactly does 'a lot' mean?"

I looked away, now scared by his tone and expression. But being the stubborn person I am, I refused to show my fear.

"I know that you killed your family on the council's orders" we didn't need to clarify which council I was talking about. "I also know that you made a deal with Madara. I know that you still love Sasuke, and did this so that he wouldn't suffer in the future".

"What else?" he whispered, his hands gripping my upper arms tightly. Vaguely I wondered if I'd bruise there.

"…I know you're dying" I pulled my knees up to my chest. Resting my forehead on them, I wrapped my now free arms around myself, as though to protect my body from whatever Itachi or the world would throw at me. I sensed, rather than heard, Itachi deflate – it was as though the previously crackling air around him went calm. Silence reigned again, except this time there was no cheer.

"I was ten when the medics told me that my body wouldn't be able to hold up much longer" he said at last. I raised my eyes. "Father and mother reacted as...expected. Sasuke was too young to be told about his aniki dying – so we just left is as it was. Only Shisui knew…"

"But why Madara?"

He sighed, suddenly looking tired. "He promised me that he would everything in his power to help Sasuke. He said he wouldn't let family politics and greed get to him, after I'd…left."

I pondered on this. "What…what if we found a way to treat you, make you better?" endless possibilities ran through my mind. "We could treat you here, in this world. There's a lot more technology and we're fairly medically advanced here, too."

Itachi smirked. "And then what? To be honest, I've come to like the Akatsuki. Feels like a family, with those lot. Infuriating most of the time, yes, but all of us are people who want to be recognized…and loved by anyone. I'd be hard-pressed to choose between them and Konoha".

"But what about Sasuke?" the question made him somber.

"I don't know" he laid on his back, hands behind his head in a very Shikamaru-ish move. His eyes misted as he watched the darkening clouds.

"You could tell him the truth" I suggested, timidly. Thinking back to the chapter when Sasuke became hell bent on destroying Konoha, I internally winced. _How would he react if Itachi told him?_

"How would he react?" Itachi echoed my thoughts. Startled, my eyes snapped to the prodigy. "How would you take it, if you were in his position?"

I leaned back, arms on the ground behind me to prop me up. I closed my eyes, feeling the crisp air on my face, tasting the salt on my lips.

"I…" I trailed off.

"It depends on how I'm feeling" Itachi sat up and cocked an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Well…if I'm really pissed, and you tell me then, I'd kick your ass for being such as ass of a brother, then I'd go and make the Konoha council pee their pants, _then_ go to the Hokage and beg to let back in the village" I paused.

"_But_, if I was in an ok mood, I'd still kick your ass, still make the Konoha council shit their pants, but I'll probably negotiate with the Hokage, instead of begging" I shrugged when I saw the beginnings of a smile. "Much more macho…and that's what Sasuke wishes he is…macho."

Itachi blinked, then threw back his head and roared with laughter. After staring in surprise, I joined in mirth. Soon the two of us were reduced to tears…well, I know I was, and I'm pretty sure I saw him swipe a few fingers across his eyes.

"You are something" Itachi chuckled.

I bowed as low I could sitting down. "Thank you very much for that compliment, Uchiha san".

Itachi chuckled again, then brought a hand up to brush my cheeks. I held still, savouring the feel of the butterfly-light touch. Closing my eyes, I leaned into his fingers. Sensing a small movement, I reopened my eyes.

Masculine arms wrapped themselves around me and Itachi pulled me closer to his torso. Hesitantly, I returned the gesture, sitting sideways on his lap. I rested my cheek on top of his head, being temporarily taller than guy for a change.

* * *

We stayed like that for god knows how long. I think I dozed off, because when I came to my senses again the sun had fully vanished beyond the horizon and the stars were twinkling in the sky. Blinking to revive myself a little, I pulled back from my pillow and looked at face resting on my shoulder. Suppressing the giggle that bubbled up at the child-like innocence displayed, I poked Itachi's shoulder.

"What?" he groaned, clearly not happy at being woken up.

"It's night. We should get back to the others" I said, squirming slightly in his grasp. The arms that encased me opened somewhat reluctantly.

"Oh geeze" I groaned as my joints cracked. Crawling to my knees, then to my feet, I stretched my body to get rid of the kinks in my spine.

"They might be worried".

"Oh, I wouldn't say that" Deidara grinned as his blonde hair swung side to side. He peered at us from behind the huge boulder a few feet away, his face gleeful. "You two looked very…cosy…together" eyebrows wagged up and down suggestively.

"S-SHUT UP!" I screeched, too embarrassed to do anything but blush.

"Aw…is the show over?" Kisame smirked. I gaped.

"How the hell did you fit behind there?" I pointed wildly to the same boulder. The chunk of rock seemed to a fraction of the blue shark-man's size.

"Meh" he shrugged.

"We should be heading back" Itachi said, face and voice impassive. He directed a Sharingan glare at Deidara, who still wore a smug expression.

"I totally agree" the blonde nodded. Casually, he waved a piece of paper in the air.

"Nice work on the picture, by the way" he added, glancing at Sai who had just emerged from behind the same boulder.

"It was easy…the models didn't move" the Roots member gave a _real_ sinister smile. I shuddered, then frowned.

"Wait, what models?"

"You'll see" Deidara cackled and jumped onto his clay bird. With a swoop and a rush of air, he flew down to the rest of the group.

"Sai" I began, stalking in what I hoped was a menacing manner towards the ninja. He gave a wave, and disappeared along with a madly beaming Kisame. I let out a growl of fury.

"They are so dead" I informed an amused Itachi. He wordlessly took my hand and teleported the two us down the cliff.

"Don't they look adorable?" I heard Sakura squeal. Turning to the sound, I froze as my eye caught sight of the piece of paper Deidara brandished a few moments earlier. The kunoichi had clearly been commenting on its contents.

"Sakura, what is that?" I asked, dreading the answer.

The pinkette squealed again, and glomped me in a very Tobi-like manner. Her emerald eyes sparkled as she spun me around.

"I didn't know that Itachi was your…" she trailed off, sticking her pinky up in the air. I blushed, fairly certain that steam was pouring out of my ears.

"SAI" I shrieked, before changing to my highest speed. The artist laughed, then turned to escape my death-choke.

"You should get together" I heard Kakashi mutter to Itachi.

"SHUT UP, PERVERT!" I threw over my shoulder as I sprinted past.

* * *

yeah, sorry the end part is kinda rushed...I had all these ideas flying around in my head and I needed to get 'em down on otherwise I forget! I don't exactly have the best memory...but I'll make the next chapter less mushy for those who didn't really enjoy this one...

until after exams! count down till 11 Novemeber 2010...aw jeez, I HATE YEAR 12!


	5. Chapter 5

AUTHOR: lalalala…*sings higher pitched than before* laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

SASUKE: *stumbles in, hands over ears* SHUT THE HELL UP! *Sharingan activates*

AUTHOR: Tut tut…wouldn't do that if I were you.

SASUKE: No one tells me what to do! Now…DIE, YOU 'HORRIBLY OFF KEY' BITCH! *Chidori chirps up*

AUTHOR: FINE! *pulls out a scroll* SUMMONING JUTSU! *puff of smoke, and large crowd of Sasuke-fangirls appear*

FANGIRLS: SASUKE _KUN_!

SASUKE: NOOOOO! *Chidori dies and Sharingan turns black* PLEASE, MAKE THEM DISAPPEAR!

AUTHOR: Not until you say the disclaimer.

SASUKE: STORY TELLER666 DOESN'T OWN NARUTO! HELP…I'M LOSING MY SHIRT…NOW MY PANTS…NOOOOOO…NOT THE BOXERS! *is swarmed by crazy eyed girls*

AUTHOR: *sighs* Fine…fine…you did your part. *waves a hand and fangirls disappear*

SASUKE: *on the floor, twitching and frothing at the mouth*

AUTHOR: Uh…Sasuke…you ok, man? Hello?

SUIGETSU: *runs in and screeches to a stop* Holy shit…what the hell happened to Sasuke?

AUTHOR: Fangirls.

SUIGETSU: *sweatdrop* Are you serious? All this time the five villages were looking to kill the guy, and all they had to do was set fangirls on him?

AUTHOR: Yep!

SUIGETSU: *looks revered* Woah! Are you Kami sama?

AUTHOR: Um…something like that. *turns to the audience* Enjoy the chapter! And thank you to my reviewers: YSRS, quaterdark, Mi3staR and yvonna. Also a big thank you to all those who've added me/my story to you're alerts and/or favourites!

SUIGETSU: *kneels and bows* I will worship the ground you walk on!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"Ok. So no sacrificing people" I pointed sternly at Hidan. The Jashinist smirked and pointed an innocent finger at himself.

"Who, me?"

"Don't get smart with me, buster" I snapped. Not waiting for a reply, I returned to my list of rules. "No killing people for whatever reason – be it to get their heart" Kakuzu reluctantly nodded " – or to eat" both Zetsus frowned, " – or to make puppets out of them" Sasori calmly continued with his puppet-polishing.

I stared Deidara, Kisame, Tobi and Naruto down. "And no going crazy and bombing, Rasenganing, Samahade-ing or glomping the house or the neighbourhood! Kapish?"

"Uh, what does 'kapish' mean?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. I growled and pulled him down to my height by the collar.

"Did you hear what I just told you?" I lowered my tone. The blonde ninja gulped and nodded his head fast. "Good…then I won't come home to find any wreckage around, _will I?_" I added threateningly.

"No Ma'am" he squeaked. I smiled and released my hold.

"Alright" I chirped, completely throwing the ninjas off with my bipolar personality for the morning. "See you after school". I threw my backpack over my shoulder and let myself out the door.

_

* * *

Hurry up_ I mentally egged the clock on. My leg bounced up and down, my fingers flicked my pen in circles as my mind wandered towards my house. _I seriously hope that they took what I said this morning seriously. Otherwise, there's gonna be some dead bodies lying around. _

I nearly groaned as the minute hand sluggishly ticked one more minute towards the six. _Ok, only two minutes to go_. Forcing my eyes away from the wall, I looked down on the paper in front of me. The words danced in front of my eyes, but made no sense. After blinking at it for a few moments, I tried to see if turning the page upside down would make a difference.

_Nope, nothing._ I shrugged and replaced the paper back on the table.

RING RING RING RING…My head shot up and I, all but sprinted to the door, snatching my books up.

"Bye miss" I yelled back to Ms. Harrison as I ran out of the classroom.

"DON'T FORGET YOUR THOUSAND WORD ESSAY DUE AT THE END OF THE WEEK" her reminder resonated in the air minutes after she'd finished yelling.

I chuckled. Ms. Harrison was one of my favourite teachers in all my six years at highschool. I had her as my English teacher in year eight and nine, and was only overjoyed at getting her at my final year. Her graying hazel hair and thin glasses perched on her nose immediately gives the impression of a kindly, yet strict adult. The truth couldn't be more contrasting. In reality, Ms. Harrison usually displays the maturity levels of a fifteen year old. She knows her subject well and is an excellent teacher – almost all the kids love her, whether they have her as a teacher or not. There isn't a single day when she isn't surrounded by gossiping girls at lunch, and even the rowdiest of the boys listen to her. In short, everyone adores her.

"Sure thing, Ms. H" I yell back, all the while speeding towards my locker. A short stop at the metal box later, I found myself at the border of power-walking back to my house.

"Please…_please_, let the house be alright" I pleaded to an unknown, unseen deity above. Ten minutes – and a whole lot of puff – later I stood facing the front door. Apprehension was the only thing I could feel.

"Pull yourself together" I scolded mentally. Squaring my shoulders, I pulled open the door, eyes squeezed shut in order to prolong the view of the battlefield I was sure resided inside.

"Huh?" I gaped at the clean hallway. Not a single thing was missing or lying shattered on the ground. "Did I walk into the wrong house?" I rechecked the number on the front door.

"Nope, it's the right one" I muttered.

"Hey I'm home" I called. A thunder of feet descended down the stairs.

"TARA CHAN" Tobi lauched himself at me. I fell back onto my bag, yelling as I landed on something hard.

"MY ASS! SHIT! GET THE HELL OFF ME" I screeched. As the ninja rolled off, I fell onto my side and rubbed my throbbing behind. "Fuck, what the hell did I land on?" I rummaged through the junk and books, before holding up my pencil case.

"I could've gotten the scissors shoved up my butt, you airhead" I hit Tobi's head. He whimpered.

"Gomenasai"

I sighed. "That's 'kay" I hauled myself up and held out a helping hand.

"You're home" Itachi noted from the kitchen doorway.

"Nah…ya think?" I rolled my eyes. The Uchiha chuckled.

"YOU'RE HOME!" Naruto hollered from in front of the TV. Sakura got up from next to him and walked towards the stove.

"What something to eat?" she asked, giggling as my stomach answered her.

"Thanks" I sank onto one of the high chairs at the counter and unceremoniously dropped my bag next to it. "I hate Physics" I moaned, resting my head in my hands.

"What's Physics?" Itachi sat next to me and raised an eyebrow.

"Stuff like Newton's laws of gravity and electric circuits" I shrugged, not in the mood to talk about my least favourite subject. "Thanks" I added as Sakura placed a plate of French toast in front of me. Immediately, I started to stuff the food into my mouth, not caring that some bites came close to burning the skin of my lips.

"Gravity, huh?" Sakura mused. "Naruto could probably use a few lessons on that" she smirked at the indignant boy.

"Hey! Sakura chan, you said you wouldn't tell!" he whined.

"Why, wha' 'appened?" I asked thickly through the bread.

"I don't know details, but Deidara said something along the lines of him, Naruto and Tobi falling off the tree they were standing on" Itachi tilted his head back to shoot an exasperated glare at the ceiling. I snorted into the remaining food, trying not to choke as laughter spilled out. _Trust those three to do something like that_.

" 'ow didja fall off?" I asked, putting more bread in my mouth.

"We were trying to work on chakra refining" Deidara announced trying to sound haughty. Strutting in, he glared at the smirking pinkette and the indifferent Uchiha.

"How hard can it be to stand on a tree branch?" I asked, having finished my snack.

"Try hanging upside on the branch with just your feet" the blonde countered. He sat next to Naruto and snatched the remote away. A squawk later, the two were caught in a little fist fight.

"And you call yourself an S ranked ninjas" I shook my head at the maturity of the two. "Well, I better get started on that stupid essay" I sighed and dragged myself to my room. "See you guys for dinner" I waved.

_

* * *

Ok, I'm officially stuck._ I stared at the half filled paper. Re-reading what I'd written, I scrunched up my nose, not all pleased with what I saw.

"This is official crap" screwing up the paper in a ball, I lobbed it into the waste basket. "Next" a new page was pulled forward.

"What are you doing?" Pein's voice sounded from the doorway. Spinning around on my wheelie chair, I made a face.

"Homework."

"…"

"Thousand word essays are _not_ easy to write" I glared at the ninja, as though the he had something to do with the work.

… "Good luck with that" the orange-head turned and walked out. "Oh, and dinner's served" he called over his shoulder.

"Yes! Food!" I overtook Pein into the living room.

* * *

"Finally" I sighed, collapsing onto the couch. "It's Friday."

Hidan sank down beside, not caring as I yelped and rolled to the other side to avoid being squashed. "What's so damn special 'bout Fridays?"

I huffed and crossed my arms. Then exhaustion overtook me and I slipped sideways onto the nin's shoulder. I sighed, my eyes drooping.

"Get the fuck off me, bitch" the Jashinist irritably jerked his shoulder, attempting to dislodge the head stuck to it.

"Shut the hell up" I muttered back, refusing to budge. After a few more attempts at pushing me off, Purple-eyes finally figured I wasn't going anywhere. Annoyed, he pouted and sat still, muttering.

"HI, HIDAN!" a black-haired, orange masked menace bounced into the room. As I glared at Tobi, he paused at the doorway and titled his head – clearly contemplating mine and Hidan's positions.

"TOBI'S SORRY HE INTERRUPTED YOUR LOVEY-DOVEY TIME" he ran back the way he came, leaving me with my mouth hanging open.

"Did he just say what I think he said?" I asked my companion. Receiving an angry growl, I decided to move to the one other couch available.

"TOBI, YOU MOTHER FUCKER" Hidan bellowed as he charged from the room.

"Figures I won't be able to sleep" I gave up trying to get a little shut eye. I laid still on the couch, flat on my back, contemplating the creamy ceiling and its little bumps. My mind wandered idly, not really settling on anything.

"So glad its Friday" I muttered, flinging an arm across my eyes. Immediately a nagging feeling caught hold of my brain.

"Wait, what's so special about this weekend?" I sat up, wide eyed and staring. A frown replaced the smile, and I racked my brain. As if to answer my question, Ricky's voice floated by.

"…_mangafest…"_

"Holy moly" I yelped in sudden excitement. Jumping up, I ran to my wardrobe, ignoring the startled looks and questions. Flinging open the doors, I literally dove into the piles of clothes, throwing out the ones that got in the way of my search.

"Uh…Tara chan…what are you doing, un?" I glanced behind to see Deidara duck to avoid a stripped hoodie headed straight for his face.

"Looking for my costume for the mangafest tomorrow" I screamed in frustration as one side of the cupboard emptied. "SHIT! WHERE IS IT?"

"_What_ are you yelling about?" Pein asked icily from the doorway. I growled and chose to reply by chucking a pair of shorts in his general direction. I head laughter as the leader heaved an angry sigh.

"Tara, why are you throwing clothes everywhere?"

I huffed as my entire closet ended up all over my room. I still hadn't found my attire for tomorrow. Which meant that I had to either search the entire house, or skip the search and just buy a new one. I pondered, then decided on hit the shops.

"Ok" I stood on the second step on the stairs, and stared down at the assembly of ninjas gathered in the hallway. "I need to go shopping for...something…who's with me?" I punched the air with a fist. The shinobi stared silently at me, then at each other, no doubt concerned for my sanity.

"Tobi will go" the masked nin bounced forward, and stood quivering in front of me. I half expected to see a tail wagging behind him.

"Hn" Itachi grunted and moved closer.

Pein glanced at the rest of the others. "We'll all go" he stated firmly. I shrugged.

"Cool! Let's move out, soldiers" I marched to the front door and had it open before I froze and backtracked. "_After_ I get my wallet" I raced to my room and was back within thirty seconds. Ignoring the amused sniggers and smirks, I pointed once more to the front yard.

"Off to the shopping center!"

* * *

I looked around in a paranoid fashion. It probably looked like I had a very bad case of twitches, but that was the least of my worries. In the excitement of shopping, I'd completely forgotten to get the ninjas to cover up their most eccentric features: namely Pein's piercings, Kisame's huge size and skin tone, Tobi's mask, Kakazu's stiches, Hidan's potty mouth, Kakashi's mysterious mask and left eye…you get the gist. So due to my lack of observational skills, the gang and myself are crammed in a small space behind the buildings.

"Alright" I kept watch as I spoke. "We need to make you guys look…normal. That means no piercings, blue skin or gills, masks, stitches and Hulk" all of them looked at me weirdly at the last one. I sighed and elaborated. "Kisame, you need to make yourself smaller". At this the blue giant grimaced, but complied to my requests.

I turned my attention to the others with…_behavioural_ eccentrics.

"No swearing!" I said in a tone that left no room for 'if' or 'but'. Surprisingly, the Jahinist nodded. "Uh…ok…no Sharingan" Itachi smirked and placed a genjutsu on himself, getting rid of his usual lines and long hair. I titled up the corner of my mouth, and as I swung to Naruto, I casually glanced at Tobi, letting him know the last rule applied to him too.

"No yelling or screaming" I tried to tower over Naruto and Tobi. While I didn't manage to dominate in height, I was fairly sure they cowered due to my impressively deadly aura. Both nodded and clung to each other.

"Oh, and rules from home apply here too. No killing, sacrificing, puppet-ing…you know the rest" I propped my hands on my hips.

"Fine" Pein blankly stared back. I beamed.

"Good!" one last look at the group and soon we were walking through the automatic doors of the mall.

* * *

"Woah!" I heard Tobi exclaim before being quickly silenced by Naruto. Fighting to keep the amused smile that fought to show, I raised an eyebrow at Itachi who was walking beside me. He rolled his eyes and went back to intently watching the bustling crowd and the colourful shops around him.

"Ok, I've gotta to go in here" I darted into the one and only store I loved in the district – Otaku Wear. **(A/N: So sorry to anyone who might object to me using the store name. I just couldn't think of any at the time...and well, I just wanna say that if anyone's not happy with me using the name, just review the chapter and I'll change it ASAP. But, please, no flames. Thanks! ^_^')**

"Eh?" Naruto blurted out, pointing to a jacket hanging on the shelf. It was the same as the one he used to wear before he came back from his training trip with Jiraya in the manga. "Why are these jumpsuits here?"

"You're pretty popular here" I grinned at the blonde, then turned to the salesperson who strutted up to me on 4 inch heels.

"Can I help you?" her white teeth gleamed in a Lee like manner. Astounded by the brightness, I was somewhat surprised and thankful that I didn't go blind after the flash of white.

"Uh…I was looking for something to wear to the mangafest tomorrow."

She looked down at me, obviously gloating about her height. "Hmm…well, we could get you one of the Akatsuki cloaks. They're quite popular, there's only about two or three left and we shipped in three dozen just a few days ago" she pointed to the black and red cloaks.

I winced, knowing full well that I'd have to explain a few things to Pein and Kakashi when we get home.

"Actually, I was hoping for something from other mangas, not 'Naruto'"

"Well, you could try 'Satan 666'" she waved a careless hand towards the long black scarf. "Jio Freed isn't all that well known".

"I'm _waaaay_ too clumsy to wear that. I'll probably end up strangling myself" I inspected a few other costumes hanging by. "I think I'll just take a look around…if that's cool…"

"Sure, go for it" she strutted back to the counter. I sighed in relief. I could literally feel Naruto trembling from keeping quiet.

"What?" I turned to the blonde, pretending to be looking at the clothes.

"There's a manga named after me?" he squealed, his voice hitting a fairly high pitch. I cringed and shot a quick look at the counter. Miss 'I-am-so-tall-thanks-to-my-heels' didn't seem to have heard anything. Then I saw the white wires hanging from her ears, and her head bopping softly in time with a rhythm.

"Yeah" I muttered, aware that Itachi, Pein, Kakashi, Sasori and Sakura were now all listening in as well. "You're the main character, and we see things happening…like your first Chunnin exams, and Sasuke leaving…" I trailed off as Naruto's lips downturned at the mention of his rival.

"What else?" Pein asked, looking quite intent on his inspection of the cloaks. I shrugged.

"Stuff that could ruin the plot if I told you. You're all fictional characters created by Masashi Kishimoto…if I told you what happens and it hasn't happened yet, well, the plot and your world could get messed up pretty bad."

"But we're _not_ in our world" Kakashi pointed out. His eyes scrutinized me silently, no doubt his ANBU analyzing skills at work.

"True, which could mean that your world is already in a mess" I offered a small smile. "Would you rather I screw it up even more?"

"But…" Sakura started. I sighed.

"Look, I suppose I could tell you unimportant details of things…nothing major, just stuff that could be changed, but won't affect the plot too much" I mused, rifling through a stand of costumes from 'Kaichou Wa Maid Sama'. "But you're gonna have to tell me what's happened so far, so that I can get in synch with your timeline."

The ninjas cast one last glance at me and returned to their investigating of the shop. Sakura wandered to Konan who was looking at the maid outfits in a less than impressed manner. Hidan was scowling at the plastic scythes, no doubt furious at the 'less-that-sharp' edges of the object. Kakazu was eyeing the price tags, Sasori and Deidara were arguing quietly by the plastic figurines glass case, while Tobi was excitedly pulling at Sai's arm everytime he spotted a familiar face amongst the toys. Pein and Kakashi were conferring about something, heads together and whispers barely audible above the music in the shop. Zetsu leaned against the glass shielding the display, looking silently at the passing crowd and occasionally at the flower shop opposite us. Kisame was poking his look-a-like plushies.

"Looks like you're going to have to come clean" Itachi murmured, standing right behind me. I frowned and kept my gaze the racks.

"I told you, I'm not gonna give away anything that'll change the plot."

I could feel his questioning look, but ignored it in favour of inspecting the soldier uniform from 'Fullmetal Alchemist'. By now, my mind had left the store. Instead, it whirled around picking up bits and pieces from the manga that would be acceptable enough for my little report later. A twinge made me send a slightly guilty look at the forlorn Naruto who was still by the orange jacket. A frown graced the cheerful face, and the blonde looked to be in deep thought.

_They shouldn't know. Otherwise the plot would change so much._ I winced. _But, if they knew, it might stop quite a few deaths…especially the Akatsuki's. _My mind struggled to decide on the information that could be passed on.

"Let's just get this over with" I blinked and focused my attention back to the costumes. Half an hour later, I trailed behind Deidara, clutching a plastic bag containing all the essentials for tomorrow.

* * *

"So, where to now, Tara chan?" Tobi bounced in front of me. I yelped almost hitting the floor with surprise.

"Tobi! Don't do that!" I placed a hand over my heart, trying to slow it down. I shook my head, and smiled at the apologetic man.

"I haven't cooked anything, so I guess we hit the pizza shop." I led the crew outside, taking in a deep breath of the cool evening air. At the food store, after firmly instructing the men, Konan, Sakura and myself entered and smiled a polite 'hello' to the owner.

"So, what didja ladies want?" I asked, staring at the menu board above the counter.

"I really don't care" Sakura leaned against a table and looked interestedly at the pizza making process. "I'm just too hungry to care."

"I don't mind…as long as it's edible" Konan added with a smirk. I laughed and nudged the bluette.

" 'Course it is!" I turned to the man at the counter. "Hi. I'll take…four meat-lovers, four Hawaiian, four Magaritta, four barbeque and four vegetarian. All large, please" I smiled at his wide eyes.

"What're ya feeding, love, the army?" he joked, punching in my order. I laughed.

"Something like that" I gave a shrug and tipped the money into his hand. He grinned back and handed me the change.

"Gimme half an hour."

"Thanks!" I retreated back to the girls. Sakura poked me with an elbow.

"We leaving the guys outside?" she pointed at the males, some of whom were eyeing us through the glass. I exchanged a look with Konan.

"Yep" I turned my back to the glares and watched the dough get pounded.

* * *

"FINALLY!" Hidan roared, not at all pleased with our timing. " 'BOUT DAMN TIME, BITCH."

"What did I say about swearing?" I glared at the sliver haired man. He grunted and flipped me the bird, before stomping off down the street.

"Aaargh!" I growled and almost dropped my share of the food. Sakura and Konan had already handed five of their seven boxes to Kakashi, Sai, Naruto and Sasori. I hugged and almost snapped at Deidara as he came forward to take a bit of my load.

"Jeez, un" he held up his hands in an 'I surrender' gesture. "I was just trying to help, yeah."

"Sorry" I muttered. I smiled at the bomber as he made a second attempt to grab a few pizzas.

"Enjoy" the pizza shop owner hollered from inside his empty restaurant. Now loaded with only one box, I managed to balance it on one hand and raised the other in a wave.

"Thanks" I yelled back through the glass. He must have heard, because he smiled and winked.

"Home time!" Tobi cheered, racing up to catch up with Hidan. I laughed and grinned at a confused Itachi who was sniffing the two boxes he was carrying. He sent me a questioning glance.

"You're just gonna have to wait" I informed him.

"Hn" he grunted, falling into step with me.

* * *

"Aah…" I sighed as the pizza boxes opened in synch. "Smell that? That's the smell of high calorie, high saturated fat, average protein heaven." I cracked up at the weird-ed out stares I got after my short monologue.

"Um…how, exactly, are we meant to eat this?" Kakazu eyed the cheesy discs.

"If you wanna be prim and proper, use knife and forks from the kitchen. But…" I trailed off, grabbing a triangle of still gloriously warm dough "…I'm saying screw etiquette. I'm using my fingers" and with that, I stuffed the small end of the pizza piece into my mouth, moaning in adulterated pleasure.

"That just sounded…wrong" Deidara commented. I whacked his knee, drawing a yelp from the ninja, and slid to the floor. Grabbing the remote control, I flicked the TV to life.

"That's the sound you'd make if you eat the food." There was silence, and then a mass of movement as everyone – including Sasori – lunged for a piece. I grinned as I heard a few gasps and grunts of delight, Sakura going as far as to whimper at the deliciousness of it.

"Told'ja."

* * *

I know I said you'd have to wait until November 11, but I was dying with all the studying I had to do...and well, I needed to get all the great ideas that hit me after my English exam down, before I forgot. So, here it is...hope you liked it, and thank you to all the reviewers and subscribers, once more.


	6. Chapter 6

SHIKAMARU: This so troublesome...why do I have to do the disclaimer?

AUTHOR: 'Cause I said so. Plus, I'll let you watch clouds _a lot_ when you make an appearance...

SHIKAMARU: As tempting as that sounds, something tells me there's a catch.

AUTHOR: *muttering* Damn brains of a genius...

SHIKAMARU: Did'ja say something...troublesome author?

AUTHOR: *glares* Fine, we'll do this the hard way. *pulls out a phone* Hello, yes, send up the package. We're taking drastic measures...

SHIKAMARU: You realize with my IQ of 200+, I'll just find a way to get out of whatever you're going to throw at me.

AUTHOR: *chuckles evilly* Hehehehe...oh, I know. But I bet you weren't expecting...*dramatic pause, during which a door opens*...Yamanaka Ino to have offered to help.

INO: Shi-ka-ma-ru, do the freaking disclaimer, already!

SHIKAMARU: Che, troublesome women. All you had to do was ask! Story-teller666 doesn't own Naruto...thank Kami sama for that...

AUTHOR: *promptly turns to Ino* Kill him for me, would ya?

INO: *cracks knuckles* With pleasure.

SHIKAMARU: *makes the circle gesture with his fingers* Oh shit...must find a way to get away...STAT!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"I'M BORED!"

"Huh?" I glared at Hidan as he charged across the clearing, skidding to a halt underneath me. He glared up.

"I'M SO FUCKING BORED WITH BEING STUCK IN THE SAME HOUSE OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!"

"I hate to say this, but I concur" Kakazu sighed, walking up to stand beside his partner.

"…and what exactly am I meant to do about this?" I questioned lightly, returning my attention to the book I was reading. It was the morning of the day of the Mangafest in the city, and I was trying to cram in as much homework as possible before heading out to party all night.

Leaning back onto the tree trunk, I sighed with pleasure. The sky was cloudless and the sun took full advantage of the lack of clouds, spreading its rays everywhere. A slight breeze blew at intervals, soothing the gentle burning sensation on my exposed skin. All in all, it was the perfect summer day.

"I mean, we're heading out tonight" I shrugged, very tempted to do a Kakashi style eye smile.

"That's just for tonight…what about the days you're attending school?" Sakura launched herself from the branch of the nearest tree, landing silently next to me. "I hate to annoy you, but I'm with macho man on this one. We need to get out of the house…ASAP".

I sighed, knowing that I wasn't going to be able to wriggle out of this one. "Jeez, didja have to spring this on me while I was reading?" I snapped my book close.

From the branch above me, Kakashi called down. "I know what you mean" he empathized. I rolled my eyes.

"Ok, fine. Let's just work this out." I pointed to the house. Sakura grabbed my arms and jumped from the branch, making sure to reduce the impact of the landing for me as much as possible. "Thanks" I smiled at the pinkette. She grinned back.

* * *

I cleared my throat in an attempt to get the crowd in my living room silent. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work. I sighed, feeling a eyebrow twitch grow. After exactly thirty seconds, I snapped.

"ZIP YA LIPS, SLAP YA BUTTS ONTO THE COUCHES AND LISTEN HARD!" **(A/N: Police Academy 3 reference) **A pin drop could be heard as the ninjas stared at me wide eyed and sitting in an orderly manner on my sofas. I smiled.

"That's better" I said sweetly. "Now, Hidan here" I pointed at the Jashinist "has expressed his views on being left home during the day."

"Wha?" Naruto scratched the back of his head and tilted it to one side. I squealed and glomped him, the puppy look winning me over completely.

"SO KAWAI!"

"Uh…" Sakura and Kakashi sweatdropped in unison. They started forwards, then paused, looking quite unsure as to how to detach my hands from around the blonde.

I gave one last squeeze, then returned to the main issue at hand. "As I was saying, there seems to be others who agree with him."

"Damn straight there is, un" Deidara interjected. He jumped up and propped his hands on his hips and continued. "We've done nothing all the time we've been here, un. And frankly, my dear Watson, it's driving us nuts…yeah".

"Uh…you've been reading 'Sherlock Holmes', haven't you?"

"It was on TV" the bomber shrugged. Sasori pointedly cleared his throat.

"I believe there is a more pressing issue at hand…"

"Right…so, anyway" I snapped my attention back, starting to get annoyed at how easily I was getting distracted.

"I was thinking of sending some of them to your school" Pein waved a careless hand at his fellow Akatsuki members.

"Hmm…I was thinking along those lines, as well" Kakashi inputted from his perch.

I frowned in thought. "But…you can't just turn up one day and ask to be accepted into school. There's a whole heap of paperwork to be done, credentials to be checked, and they see if you can pay the fees, and you'll need school uniform…"

"We have enough funds on us to pay a deposit for a couple of people" Pein replied. It was obvious that he'd been giving his idea a lot of thought, and had clearly come up with an answer to almost every problem that's cropped up. "It's not like we're sending the entire group there…just two, max four people. The rest of us will simply get jobs to keep the income…coming in. Alongside your part-time work, I should think it'd be enough. And it's for your own protection."

I snorted in amusement. "What makes you think I can't protect myself?"

"Well, just a few months ago you weren't even able to dodge a kunai…"

"I meant, there are no ninjas here trying to lop my head off" I ground out, furious at the Akatsuki leader for bringing up that incident. "Compared to the people here, I'm pretty strong and am fully capable of holding up single handedly against attackers."

"For our peace of mind, then" Konan placed a calming hand on my arm. She smiled. "We would be more at ease knowing that there's going to be people close by who can protect you, should something go wrong. You're the only one we can trust here" her voice dropped a few decibels. "And not only that, you've become a close friend to all of us…we aren't going to let anything bad happen to you."

I felt my throat tighten as she said the last few words. The only other time I remember ever having felt like that was when Ricky and Laura made a pact with me, promising me – cross their hearts and hope to commit suicide due to the guilt they would feel upon breaking the promise – that they'll never abandon me. It was touching moment, the details of which will never ever be forgotten by me.

I looked around the room again, and saw the truth of the words in all their eyes. Naruto, Deidara and Kisame grinned at me, while Sasori, Hidan, Sai smirked their word. Kakashi tilted his head to a side, offering me one of his famous eye-smiles, and Kakazu and Pein nodded in acknowledgment. Tobi and Sakura abandoned their seats, racing to hug me. Finally, my eyes fell on Itachi. The Sharingan user leaned against the wall behind him, eyes not wavering once from my face. I could see traces of a faint smile.

Overwhelmed, I couldn't speak for moments. The soft burning behind my eyes faded, and I gave Konan, Sakura and Tobi soft hugs before grinning appreciatively at the rest.

"Thanks guys. That means a lot to me."

"We mean every word of it" Naruto cheered loudly. I laughed as Sakura whapped his blonde head upside. "OW! SAKURA CHAN…"

"Moving on from the Jashin forbidden mushy stuff…what are you thinking of doing about this…thing?" Hidan grumbled. _Way to read the mood, Einstein._ I sighed.

"Well, like I said. I don't have a problem with any of you coming to school…the sane, not retarded ones" I corrected myself as I saw Hidan open his mouth to argue his case. "But like I said, there's a lot of prob–" I broke off as the doorbell rang.

"Didn't know there was someone coming today" an eyebrow rose as I moved towards the front door.

"Hey" Laura and Ricky chirped in unison as I opened the door. "Thought we'd drop by and make sure that no one's dead."

"Well, I'm still alive…" I stepped back, letting them walk into the shade provided by the house. A hot breeze blew, taking away some of the comforting cold.

"Who said we were talking about you?" Laura called over her shoulder as she waltzed into the living room. "Hey, what's going on? A war council?" she stared at the crowd.

"You could say that."

"WE'RE TRYING TO SEE IF TOBI CAN GO TO SCHOOL WITH TARA CHAN!" Tobi shrieked, glomping Laura.

"What?" Laura turned incredulous eyes on me.

"Are you insane?" Ricky joined her stare. I sighed, irritated that they'd take me to be such a fool.

"NO! He's one of the ones _not_ going" I retorted.

"It's good that you're here" Pein noted. He stood up and walked to stand in front of the TV. "You can help us plan how and who to send…plus the cover stories and other related problems and issues that may arise."

"Ok" Laura agreed, plonking herself in the seat Pein had occupied earlier. "Shoot."

"He was going to send two to four of these crazy bunch to school with me" I jerked a thumb at Hidan who in the process of trying to snag Ricky's cap. I smirked as I watched the Jashinist pull his hand back with a curse as Ricky pinched his arm.

"Stay away from the hat" my best boy buddy set down the rules.

"I can see why you'd be reluctant" Pein rolled his eyes.

"So, firstly, assuming that you are sending people…who would you send?" Laura asked. She's always been the organized one, level headed and coolly collecting the facts and putting things in order whenever it was clear that neither Ricky nor myself were in the mindset to be in charge of…well, anything. We've had our moments of utter insanity…let's just leave it at that.

"Hmm…the least inconspicuous…Itachi, Deidara, Konan and Sasori."

"Hey, we wanna go too" Sakura added, indicating to herself and the younger memebers of Team Kakashi.

"Yeah, yeah"

"You could do two and two" Laura suggested. "Two Akatsuki and two Team Kakashi."

"Sounds like a compromise" Pein and Kakashi nodded to each other.

"…so, Kakashi-sensei" I called to the masked ninja in a sing song tone. "Who're you sending?"

"Sakura and…um…well, this is hard" he rubbed his chin in thought, either ignoring (or not hearing) Naruto's indignant squawk.

"Whaddaya mean 'this is hard'? You can't seriously be considering sending this teme" the Kyuubi holder poked an angry finger at Sai. The Root member gave a blank smile.

"The guy's more socially retarded than anyone else here!"

"Sensei, Naruto baka's got a point. If Sai goes, well…he might upset people there with his blunt statements. Not exactly going help with the fitting in part" Sakura said in open honesty.

Kakashi, however, still looked slightly indecisive. When Sai didn't say anything to contradict the two, the team leader gave a sigh.

"Fine. Sakura and Naruto can accompany Tara."

"YOSH!" Naruto jumped up and gave a very Lee styled grin, complete with the shining teeth and thumbs up. I winced and immediately brought my hands up to protect my eyes from the glare.

"Promise me you won't do that at school" I begged the hyperactive teen.

"Aw, but Tara chan…"

"I'm serious, Naruto. If you do that at school, or in any public place, I will personally knock you into next month. You got that?"

"…fine…"

"Good. Glad we cleared that up." I turned my attention to Pein.

Rinnegan eyes lit up in amusement and a small smile was gracing his mouth as he named his choices for my school yard bodyguards.

"Itachi and Deidara can accompany you."

"Why Deidara?" Laura asked curiously. The said person let out a yell.

"Oi! What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing" my closest girlfriend shrugged her shoulders. "Just thought Sasori would the one to go…that's all. He _is_ the one of the calmer members."

"True" Pein agreed. It was obvious that Laura had won his respect with her clear and logical thinking style. "But he might scare the students. He's not exactly our most…social…member. I think one quiet recluse is enough" he added. I blinked before laughing at his joke.

"Didn't take you to be a joker" Ricky grinned, before laughing at Itachi's expression at his leader's words.

"Hn."

"Fine. So we've decided on 'who'. Now we just need to work out 'how'."

"I'll get the butcher paper and textas" I ran into my room, grabbed sheets of A3 paper and markers and ran back to the meeting. "Let's brainstorm."

"Not exactly what I had in mind" Laura sweatdropped, watching my enthusiasm. "Never mind..." she muttered.

"Talk away, my good man" an uncapped texta hovered over the page. Hand poised to start writing at a moment's notice, I grinned at the exasperated Pein.

"Here's what I was thinking…"

* * *

"Are you ready yet?"

"Almost" I yelled back, doing a last check over. Smoothing down the material at my stomach, I grinned pleased with what I saw.

"What 'bout now?" Sakura demanded, sticking her head around my door. Her narrowed eyes widened as she took in my costume. "Nice" she whistled in blatant appreciation.

I blushed at the compliment. "Thanks…c'mon, we should get going" shooing the pinkette before me, I give the room one last sweep. "Got everything" I muttered.

"ALRIGHT CREW, LET'S HEAD OUT!" I bellowed, running completely on adrenaline and pure excitement.

"FINALLY, UN" Deidara screeched, turning. Then he stopped abruptly, staring at me as I descended the stairs.

"Pretty" Tobi squealed, clapping his hands together like a two-year-old.

I felt my face heat up even more, becoming very self conscious in the form fitting black suit. The white leg and arm warmers clung to my body, moving smoothly as I wrung my hands together. The deep cuts of the uniform on either side of my chest made me very conscious of my bust size and my exposed back did nothing to lessen the embarrassment.

"So, who're meant to be?" Konan asked, smirking at the frozen males by the front door.

"Yorouichi. Former Supreme Commander of the Secret Mobile Corps, Former Corps Commander of the 1st Squad, Correction Corps, Former Princess of the Tenshi Houban Shihouin Noble House" I rattled off the information, proud of having memorized all the titles. "More commonly known as Shunshin Yoruichi."

"Just fuckin' wow" Hidan breathes, his eyes focused a little lower than my face. I scowl and cross my arms.

"Perv" I shove past him and into the night air. He snapped his gaping mouth shut and roared with laughter.

"What's with the butterfly?" Sasori pointed at me. Immediately, more pairs of eyes focus on my chest.

"STOP FREAKING STARING!" I screamed, turning my back to my spectators.

"Nice" Deidara echoed Sakura's sentiments. I let out a growl of frustration, nearly tearing out my wig.

"I give up!"

"So…what _is_ with the butterfly?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence that filled the air after my outburst.

"Oh, she got attacked, and her opponent has this cool power where if she hits on the same spot with her zanpakuto – soul slayer" I explain hastily, seeing his confusion "the person on the receiving end can say a permanent goodnight." I wave a vague hand towards the design, before blushing and crossing my arms again. "She, uh, got hit once. By the time she gets this outfit, she's already got the mark."

"Cool" sporting huge blue orbs, he continued to pester me for details about my character. After ten minutes, I'd told him all I knew.

"Here's Sam and Will" I announced as two nine-seater vans came bumping along the road. Both the red and white vehicles came to a halt right in front of my house.

"You ready to hit the road?" Sam leaned towards the passenger seat and yelled out the window. Will hopped out of his van, stretching his arms in the air.

"You aren't coming?" I asked my pal, noting his black slacks, trainers and tank top. He shrugged then shook his head.

"I'm not the anime freak" his mouth tilted up. I shot him a mockingly hurt look.

"That cuts deep."

"Yeah, yeah" he waved away the antics. I laughed and turned to organize the passengers into two groups.

* * *

Ten minutes later, after a lot of yelling (me), swearing (Hidan, Deidara and Naruto), threatening (Pein and Sasori), hitting (Deidara and Sakura) and tantrums (Tobi), seven of the fourteen ninjas and myself were seated comfortably inside the white vehicle. Will had kept his mouth shut during the 'organizing', watching amusedly as I tried to make the groups into fairly even groups.

"So, ya'll ready for this Mangafest?" Will casually asked the less-than-silent ninjas at the back.

"First time, yeah" Deidara replied, his fingers playing with the collar of his cloak.

I had banished Hidan into the other car, unable to cope with his continuous staring. Kakazu had muttered something about 'keeping the Jashinist from costing him money' and jumped in the same van as his partner. Pein, after a long tortured silence, heaved a sigh and buckled himself into the passenger seat. He exchanged a quick greeting with Sam and fell silent, with a slight pout on his face. Konan had shaken her head at his expression and resignedly sat in one of the middle three seats, positioning herself right behind her man. Sakura, feeling sorry for the bluette joined her, and soon was squashed in between her friend and Tobi. Everyone had agreed that Zetsu and Kisame could not fit into the one vehicle together. So the plant man jumped into the car, being one of the people who tolerated Tobi's insane talking.

This left me to deal with two energetic blondes, three mutes, one somewhat cynical teacher and one mighty blue Hulk. Kisame was presented an entire side of the very back row, while Naruto, Deidara and Sai made themselves comfortable in whatever room was left. I sat in the middle of Sasori and Itachi, while Kakashi rode shotgun. The silver head was turned towards the driver seat, no doubt taking in the details concerning driving. Occasionally, he fired off questions at Will, ostensibly fascinated by the piece of techonology.

And he wasn't the only one. Itachi, too, was watching Will's driving skills and I caught Sasori's fleeting glances towards the conversations between the two at the front.

"So you lot are members of the Akatsuki and Team Kakashi, huh?" Will mused.

"Hey! How'd ya know that?" I shot back, surprised. It was like he said earlier: out of the group of my friends, the ones even remotely interested in anime were me, Laura and Rickie. There was no way Will would have known who the Akatsuki or Team Kakashi was.

"Rickie told me the day you lot came to play soccer with us" he shrugged giving me a glance in the rear view mirror.

"So that's the reason you guys didn't freak when you saw Pein and Kisame" I slapped my forehead. "_Now_ it all makes sense."

"Wouldn't say wasn't freaked…but the warning did sorta stop anyone from having heart attacks."

I snorted and wriggled about in my seat. The males on either side of shot me annoyed looks then returned to their stony stares. I completely ignored this and continued to twist and turn every minute, trying to find a comfortable position. It wasn't easy: both Sasori and Itachi had broad shoulders (broader than mine, anyway), and both were still and hard as rock.

"Will you stop that?" Sasori finally spoke up, mild anger visible on his facial features. I stuck my tongue out at him, irritated by my position.

"It's so uncomfortable" I whined, poking his shoulder. "Both of you are like marble." I massaged the poking finger, certain that I'd managed to strain it, at least.

"Oh, suck it up" I saw Will roll his eyes. "We're almost there, anyway. Less than five, I think."

"YES!" Deidara and Naruto joined in with my cheer. Sasori and Itachi let out an exasperated sigh in unison.

* * *

"Will, you liar" I muttered darkly. It had taken us fifteen minutes to find the place for the Mangafest. _As if we'd missed seeing thousands of people dressed as manga characters_, I gazed at the enrapturing sight in front of me. Shops littered the street on either side, vendors talking and laughing with customers gathered in front of them. The colourfully dressed crowd's chatter roared through the air, white flashes blinking everywhere as camera lights winked to life. Groups posed together, taking pictures of each other and with random strangers, all united by their love for Japanese cartoons.

"Wow" Sakura breathed, emerald eyes wide at the thousands gathered together. I grinned, excitement once again shooting through my veins.

"We _have_ to stick together" Kakashi reminded us once again. Pein nodded as if to emphasize the order. I bounced on my toes, impatient to be enjoying the festivities.

"Yeah, yeah, we all fucking know" Hidan didn't bother hiding his anticipation. "No killing, yada yada yada…let's get going already!"

I beamed at the Jashinist. "You're just happy you can get away with swearing your mouth off, aren't you?"

Purple eyes were amused as they stared down at me. "Damn right I am."

Pein sighed and rubbed the bridge of nose, looking quite exhausted. "I'm already beat, and we haven't even started yet" I heard him mutter to Konan. The female laughed and linked her arms though his.

"Let's just go" Naruto and Tobi shot off.

"So much for staying together" Sakura chuckled as I shook my head at the more-than-usual hyperactive pair.

"What did you expect?" she admonished jokingly. I rubbed the back of my head.

"Good point."

* * *

"Hidan, for the last freaking time, NO!" I screamed at the immortal, who was still rooted in his spot. He glared right back at me, a pout beginning to form around his mouth. "You can't sacrifice anyone just because they piss you off!"

"The fucker needs to be taught a lesson! He just blasphemed!" he roared back at me.

"Oh, for the love of…you idiot, these guys are just dressed up like characters from manga. They're just acting their part!"

"So what? He still blasphemed!"

I swung around to Itachi, my tolerance for Hidan's stupidity complete dried up. "Tsukuyomi him…right now…" I ground out. The Uchiha prodigy merely gazed back at me, thoroughly entertained by the miniature war.

I sighed and pleadingly looked at the sky. _Where the hell did it go wrong?_ I asked the unseen deity above.

We'd started off fairly well. After catching up to Naruto and Tobi, the group and myself decided to walk around to meet others who were present. Along the way, we'd managed to get quite a few photos with cosplayers from Bleach, One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist, 666 Satan (the guy dressed as Metraton was _awesome_!), Shugo Chara and a few others. Then we started to Narutards everywhere…and I mean literally _everywhere_!

Hinata seemed to be the most popular female. There were a few Sakura's and Konan's present, too. The real Cherry blossom and Angel were flattered by the popularity, and enthusiastically complied with picture requests from their admirers.

The real surprise was when a huge group of about ten to fifteen girls came up to us and requested a photo with Zetsu. Both the yellow eyes widened in surprise, clearly shocked at how admired he was. The fans spent about ten minutes asking questions about his costume, no doubt impressed by the authenticity of it.

"Heh, you're famous" Hidan huffed as the girls ran off, a few of them turning to give Zetsu final waves.

"**Jealous?**" the black side sneered, while the white stuck its tongue out.

"Shut up, you fucking plant-man hybrid."

The second surprise was when Ricky turned up, having gone all out in his impersonation of Ryuuk, the death god from Death Note. He'd painted his entire face white, and given himself the creepy grin, clad completely in black, wings protruding out from his back.

"Seriously, a death god?" I asked him as soon as he got in hearing vicinity.

"What? He's cool, and I doubt there'd be a lot of death gods around" he grinned at me, looking even weirder with the double grin.

"Nice job" I heard Naruto and Deidara exclaim as I walked away from the trio.

As we continued to stroll deeper into the crowd, occasionally stopping to pose for pictures. But all peaceful times must come to an end.

Some dude dressed as young Cross from 666 Satan decided to come and jibe at Hidan. Of course, I was fairly sure it was to stay in character, but Hidan was slowly, but surely, losing his temper as the idiot kept going on about God. It only took about three minutes to get to the point where Hidan's hand was gripping the handle of his scythe.

Deciding that I had to intervene if bloodshed was to be avoided, I pulled my coldest look and faced 'Cross'. "Not interested in anything you have to say, buddy. So why don't you and your pals just get lost?"

He sneered back. "What happened to the man defending the woman's honor? Or does that just not apply to the two of you?"

_Ouch, that's gotta hurt!_ I inwardly winced, taking a peek at Hidan's face. _Uh oh…doesn't look like the bloodlust is gonna stay down_. I turned my attention back to the cosplayer.

"What's your fucking problem? Look, if you don't wanna get hurt, I'd ski-daddle my arse away from here, pronto."

"What're you two gonna do? Shove me up your nose?"

"Ew" I muttered.

"AFTER I'M FUCKING FINISHED WITH YOU PUNK, YOU'LL WISH YOU'D KEPT YOU FUCKING MOUTH FUCKING SHUT, YOU FUCKER!" Hidan exploded, the tri-bladed weapon raised.

"Oh shit" I swore, latching onto Hidan's arm. The extra weight on one side threw off his balance and the immortal staggered under the unexpected weight. "HIDAN, YOU CAN'T BEHEAD HIM!"

"WHO SAID I WAS BEHEADING HIM? I'M GONNA FUCKING CHOP OFF HIS BALLS AND FEED THEM TO THE FUCKER!"

"YOU CAN'T GO AROUND SWINGING THE BLADES AROUND, YOU MORON!"

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME, BITCH. I'M SO TORTURING THIS SON OF A – "

"NO YOU'RE NOT!"

At this point, the reason for the temper explosions decided to pitch in his two cents.

"Fucking weirdos."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU MOTHER FUCKER!" Hidan and I bellowed in unison. The guy back pedaled, then turned and high tailed out of there.

"What are you two doing?" Pein strode into sight, and raised an eyebrow at our wrestling match. I panted, still clinging onto the mad Jashinist.

"Hidan…gonna kill…must stop…" I puffed out, breathless with my efforts. Itachi stepped out of the shadows, Sharingan blazing. He looked at Hidan. A few seconds later, I could let go of the unconscious male. Standing up, I massaged my ribs, having been crushed under the huge guy moments earlier.

"Are you alright?" I smiled and nodded at Itachi's concern.

"I'm fine…but we better not stay around here too long."

Kakazu muttered darkly under his breath and heaved one of Hidan's arms over his shoulder. Kisame, after a moment's pause, took the other side, and together they dragged him while the rest of us led the way to the concert area. Once we reached the open ground, the purple eyed man was dumped unceremoniously onto the grass, the rest of us settling down to wait.

Needless to say, the first thing Hidan did after waking up was look for 'Cross'. Hence the reason I'm standing here having a shouting match with him.

I sighed, worn out from all the yelling.

"Whatever" I muttered, lying on grass. Looking up at the stars, my eyes searched for constellations. The activity soothed me, and my brain lazed while my vision roved taking in the patterns created by the jewels in the sky.

"Pretty" Deidara noted quietly from beside me. I softly laughed.

"…yeah…" silence fell again. I closed my eyes to enjoy the serenity of it.

_

* * *

hajimete kimi to shabetta kimi wa waratte kureta_

_hajimete kimi to shabereta boku no kono kotoba de_

_boku nanka ga shaberi kaketara meiwaku ni omou ka na_

_sonna fuan o kakaete yuuki o dashite mita yo_

_umaku shaberenai boku no fukiyou na hanashi_

_kimi wa mimi o sorasazu ni chanto kiite kureta yo_

I sang along with the performers, bouncing in time to the rhythm. I knew there were others singing too, but right now I only felt the vibrations from the massive speakers and from my vocal chords.

_sore dake de boku wa mai agatteru no sa_

_fushigi na chikara ga karada o tsutsunderu kanji ima dake sa dakedo_

_hajimete kimi to shabetta kimi wa waratte kureta_

_hajimete kimi to shabereta boku no kono kotoba de_

_hajimete kimi to shabetta kimi wa waratte kureta_

_hajimete kimi to shabereta boku no kono kotoba de_

Now I was swaying. Eyes closed, I let my hearing take control of my brain.

_kotoba wa itsudemo boku o kurushimete bakari_

_dakedo sukutte kureru no mo itsumo kotoba datta yo_

_dareka ni warawareta-tte kanawanai no sa_

_kimi to shabereta jijitsu ga boku ni wa tsuiteru kara_

_sore dake de boku wa ukarete shimau no sa_

_dakedo kimi wa boku nante nantomo omottenai yo ne setsunai yo _

_dakedo_

The sounds grew louder as the singers surrounding me raised their voices, the roar strengthening the bond between those gathered in the clearing.

_hajimete kimi to shabetta kimi wa waratte kureta_

_hajimete kimi to shabereta boku no kono kotoba de_

_hajimete kimi to shabetta kimi wa waratte kureta_

_hajimete kimi to shabereta boku no kono kotoba de_

_hajimete kimi to shabetta_

_hajimete kimi to shabereta_

There was a pause…then a cheer went up in the air. Naruto and Tobi jumped up and down, waving their arms like maniacs. Konan was blushing, no doubt from the comment Pein made in her ear a few seconds ago. Sakura was teasing Kakashi, trying to get him to join in with the celebrating going on around him. The masked had his nose firmly buried in his ever present copy of Icha Icha Paradise, and he responded to his student with occasional shrugs of the shoulder and tilts of the head.

"I like this song, un" Deidara exclaimed, slinging a friendly arm around my shoulder. I grinned at the blonde.

"It's one of the theme songs for your manga."

"NO WAY!" Naruto decided to join our conversation. Cerulean eyes sparkled and whisker marks bunched up in pure joy.

"Way" I smirked.

"ENCORE!" the blondes screamed together. I sighed and quietly thanked God that my hearing was already a bit shot from the speakers, and hence was spared the pain of hearing their screams.

"Alright! Now for something a little different…for all you Japan-ists out there, this a sing-a-long for you…" the speaker's voice faded as the band started to play the notes of a song that I'd heard a million times.

"YES! I LOVE THIS SONG!" I screamed, pointing at the screen that showed the lyrics. Head bobbed in time to the drums as I turned to Sakura. "YOU, START SINGING!" the pinkette looked up at the screen and did a double take as she saw the title – Sakura Sake by Arashi.

_Nigirishimeta te ga nanika iu__  
__Kake daseba ma ni au sa to__  
__Konbini de zasshi tachiyomi shiteta__  
__Kinou no boku ni bye-bye_

After the initial few stumbles, the music grew louder as the crowd started to pick up the rhythm.

_Hashiridashita machi no oto wa_  
_Kansei no you_

_Sakura sake boku no mune no naka ni_  
_Mebaeta na mo naki yumetachi_  
_Furimukuna ushiro ni wa asu wa nai kara_  
_Mae wo muke_

By now, Sakura and I were belting it out like there's no tomorrow, at the top of our voices. The sound was lost in the sea of music, contributing almost insignificantly to its raucous. I beamed at Naruto, Tobi and Deidara who were all singing way off pitch, but never-the-less sounding decent.

_Ekimae de dareka utatteru__  
__Sore wa kimi no suki na uta__  
__Tooku hanaretemo kesshite kienai__  
__Dakara wakare ja nai__  
__Itsuka futari nozomu basho de__  
__Meguriaitai__  
_

"Not bad" Hidan yelled approvingly in my ear. I elbowed his ribs, laughing as I heard his grunt.

"Let's see if you can top that!" I yelled back, setting down the challenge for all nearby to hear. The immortal bared his teeth in a vicious grin.

"YOU'RE ON" he bellowed, before drowning out singers close-by. I had to admit, he wasn't too shabby.

_Mirai nante sa sugu ni kawaru__  
__Kaete miseru__  
__"Migi e narae" kara fumidasu kono ippo wo__  
__Utta ten ga wakeru kekka in to you__  
__Dakara shittokou ikiru hinto wo__  
__Kasumu shinkirou sura mo tsukamu ikioi__  
__Ima makeba tane hana sakasu__  
__Yatta ato iu nara mada wakarun da__  
__Sou sorya jikan nante no wa kakaru__  
__Haru ni wa ookina hana wo sakasu__  
__Meguriaitai kanarazu__  
_

Air guitaring now, I jumped up and down like a maniac, not caring that my wig hair was all over my face, and that I bumped and crashed into Konan and Pein as I whirled around. A smirk wormed its way onto my lips as I watched a blushing Pein help Konan stand upright again, all the while throwing little half-hearted glares at me from the corner of his eye.

"Whoops" I mouthed cheekily, before strumming away like crazy.

_Sakura sake kimi no mune no naka de__  
__Yureteta chiisana tsubomi yo__  
__Makenai you ni kujikenai you ni ima__  
__Utau kara__  
__Sakura sake boku no mune no naka ni__  
__Mebaeta na mo naki yumetachi__  
__Furimukuna ushiro ni wa asu wa nai kara__  
__Mae e mae e_

As the final note died, the crowd jumped up screaming its joy. I joined right in, hardly aware of Sakura was watching me amusedly while clapping her hands.

"AAAAND NOW, SOMETHING DIFFEENT FOR YOU MANGA FANS THIS YEAR…"

A boom sounded, followed closely by a rumbling noise. The crowd gasped as one and turned to watch a platform rise out of the ground, looking very much like a slowly rising monster-board with all the mist floating around it.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" I screamed, not directing it at anyone.

"I-I THINK…I THINK THAT'S A DANCE FLOOR" Sakura yelled back, eyes squinting.

"GRAB YOUR PARTNERS, GIRLS AND BOYS, IT'S TIME TO DANCE!"

Instantly people turned on one another. The first to run onto the dance floor was 'Tsunade' and 'Aizen'. I gaped, then laughed as the two started to dance suggestively around each other.

"EW! BAA CHAN'S HOOKING UP!" Naruto covered his eyes, screaming as he wailed about the loss of his 'innocence'.

"BAKA" Sakura's blow fell directly admist the blonde spikes. She retracted her hand, ready to go in for a second time, when a random dressed as Captain Mustang held out his hand.

"Can I have this dance?" he inquired looking directly into her eyes. The Cherry Blossom blushed, then immediately took up the offer. I gave her a soft slap on the arm as she passed by.

"No naughty stuff" I wagged a finger.

"Shut up."

I sighed and looked dramatically up at Kisame who was laughing at my comment. "Aah…young love…"

"You would know about it" he gave me a feral grin.

" 'Course I do, what makes you think I haven't had any– "

"Would you like to dance?"

I turned to look at the hand. Slowly, my eyes traveled up the arm and onto the face, before finally resting on a pair of warm chocolate brown eyes.

"Yum" I said automatically. The guy blinked, confused.

"What?"

"Oh" I shook my head, face-palming myself in my mind. "Sorry…did you ask me something?"

He smiled, and gently caught hold of my hand hanging by my side. "The dance floor is calling…" a small tug had me following him like an obedient puppy. Squeezing past couples who were dancing so close together, it was hard to tell to whom the tangled limbs belonged, we stopped to claim a small empty space near the edge.

"I'm Jordan Drake" he introduced himself, meanwhile placing his hands on my hips. I fought the blush that just wanted to explode on my face, and lightly draped my arms on his shoulders.

"Takara Nozomi" I smiled shyly.

"Ah ha! Thought so…you're half Japanese, aren't you?" his beam held a touch of pride.

"Yep" I laughed. "Very smart of you, Mr. Drake" my tone held a teacher-styled approval.

"Thanks, Miss. I try" he joked.

We swayed together, not caring about the tempo of the music. In fact, I hardly listened to the sound at all. Too busy focusing on him, I failed to notice how much closer we'd gotten since we started to dance. By the end of the third song, the only part of our bodies that weren't touching were our faces and necks.

"Alright, party goers. This will be the last song for tonight…SO LET ME SEE ALL OF YOU ON THE DANCE FLOOR!" the DJ cranked the music up, letting it reach an all-time high.

"Damn, and I was enjoying this so much" Jordan sighed, leaning so that our foreheads touched.

"Ditto" I winked, before pulling back. "All this slow dancing's making me sleepy…c'mon, I wanna _dance_!" with that I pulled out of his embrace, and spun out and in. Jordan laughed, and soon had me spinning around, also laughing and giggling with happiness.

"You're not bad, Miss" he complimented, before spinning me out.

"I could say the same for you" I flirted back, shyness all forgotten.

Exactly three minutes and forty eight seconds later, the absolute last note rang through the air, admist the loud celebrations and applause. Clutching Jordan's hand, I added my voice to the noise, having truly enjoyed the night.

"I better take you back to your pals, then" Jordan sighed, a slight regretful tone underlying his statement.

"Thanks." Once again I was pulled into the crowd, blind and simply following the hand and arm that held me for the past three quarters of an hour.

"There you are" Sakura cried out as I pushed and shoved my way out of the teeming mass of bodies. She crooked her mouth into an inquiring smile, eyes fixed inquisitively on Jordan.

"Guys, this is Jordan…Jordan, these are my friends" I waved an awkward hand.

"Saya" Sakura held out her hand.

"Hi" a sheepish grin replied. "Sorry I took her…"

"No problem" Naruto chirped up. He bounced next to Sakura and help up his fist. "I'm Na-, uh, Niko."

"Nice to meet'cha" they bumped fists.

"That's Kiko" Naruto waved a hand at Konan. "And her _boyrfriend_…um, I mean friend" he corrected himself nervously as Pein fired a look full of promise of pain at him "is Riku. The blonde is Shou, the red head is Takumi…" at this point Naruto stopped to take a breath, and before he could continue, Tobi jumped in.

"Tobi is Nobu."

Jordan laughed as I shot a discrete glare at the orange masked ninja. "Nice…you stayed in character."

"Huh?"

I quickly decided to move on. "Hidan look-a-like's Tsuyoshi, his _partner_'s Yutaka, shark boy over there's called Kenta and the tall, dark and brooding – Isamu."

"Oh, and this is Shin" Sai got a poke on the temple from Sakura "and Kouhei" Kakashi raised a hand in acknowledgement.

"All Jap" Jordan's eyebrows shot up.

"Uh, yeah. My…relatives there decided to send these guys here." I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Nice…anyway, I can see my idiotic friends making plans to annoy me, so I better get going, too" he rolled his eyes at a group of guys standing together, making weird faces in our direction.

"Ok, then" I laughed, giving him a small push towards them. "Get going."

"Oh, hang on. Gimme your number" he pulled out his phone, thumb poised over the keypad. I rubbed the back of my head, suddenly very aware of the ninjas listening in on our conversation.

"Um, its oh four three four six one two eight one four" I mumbled, trying to keep my voice as low as possible.

Jordan fiddled with the device, before shooting me a smile. I gazed back at him, caught by the deep brown orbs which were now moving closer to me.

"Hem hem"

We jumped and looked away from each other, too embarrassed to make eye contact with anyone.

"I-I'll, um, message you…so, you know, you can get my number…" he trailed off sheepishly.

"...sure…" I whispered.

"Well…see ya" he swooped and pecked me on the cheek, before jogging off towards his friends.

I was completely still, not noticing the silent group near me. My fingers touched the spot where his lips made contact with my skin, a smile unfurling on my face.

"Aw, Tara chan got her first kiss" Sakura squealed, glomping me. After almost collapsing from a heart failure, I blushed and glared at the pinkette, who was smiling cheesy.

"N-no I didn't…'sides, I thought the first kiss was meant to be a lip lock, not on the cheek"

"Doesn't matter" I blinked nervously at Naruto who'd come on my other side. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, wearing a very mature expression.

"I can't have you dating anyone I don't approve of" he furrowed his eyebrows, and deepened his voice. "No one's taking my baby girl away."

I edged out from both the crazy teens, choosing to stick close to Kisame. "Who are you, and what have you done with Naruto?"

"N-nani? It's me, Tara chan" immediately, the overprotective father façade disappears, only to be replaced with the usual face of slightly hysterical panic and confusion.

"So you say, you imposter" I yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Arms wind-milling wildly, he doesn't hear the amused laughter, looking quite convinced that I thought he wasn't the one and only Uzumaki Naruto, the greatest ramen-loving blonde idiot to be born in Konoha.

"I s-swear I'm not an imposter!" he turned to the others, pleading for help. "You guys…stop laughing and tell her!"

"Fine" I huffed, internally restraining my laughter in with all the strength. "To prove that you're the real Naruto, you've gotta…do the laundry, clean the house aaand the dishes for a month."

"Deal!" I'd hardly finished stating my terms, when my hand was caught and pumped with enough strength to make my head feel like it was going to fall off.

"Thanks, Naruto" I chirped cheerily, giving the relieved blonde a hug. "I'm pretty sure Will and Sam're here" I told the group, skipping off in search for our ride home. The ninjas followed me, still shaking with mirth.

The future Hokage scratched the back of his head, trying to sort through the whirlwind of events that's taken place within the space of two minutes.

A pause.

"HEY! YOU JUST TRICKED ME!"

I turned to wave to the furious boy speeding up the hill towards me. I grinned and stuck my tongue out at him, before running off.

"That I did, my friend, that I did!"

* * *

I apologize to anyone who thinks this is a bit rushed...'cause it is. I was sooooo upset about not being able to complete the chapter 'cause of exams, and by the time I could actually bet my hands onto a keyboard for more than 30 seconds, all the ideas had just turned to mush...actually, I think that was my brain. ANYWAYS, here it is...hope you liked it. Please review...it is much appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7

GAARA: ...tell me...why am I here, in the first place?

AUTHOR: I thought you could use a little time away from being Kazekage-ish 'n' stuff...*beams*

GAARA: ...right...well...*turns to leave* Good luck with being insane and all. I've got a village to look after.

AUTHOR: *whimpers. Bottom lip pushes forwards and puppy eyes fill with tears* PWEASE, GAA-CHAN! FOR ME?

GAARA: *twitches*...Gaa-chan? *glares* Do you want me to sic Shukaku on you?

AUTHOR: *floods the room with tears* TEMARI! GAA-CHAN'S BEING MEAN TO ME! WAAAHHHHH!

TEMARI: *swims to her brother and hits his head with her awesomely huge fan* JUST SAY THE GOD DAMN DISCLAIMER!

GAARA: Will that stop my sand from being drenched? *looks doubtfully at his soaked groud*

TEMARI: YES! NOW SAY!

GAARA: *sighs* Story-teller666 doesn't own Naruto... *instantly the room's dry*

AUTHOR: YAY! THANK YOU, GAA-CHAN! *runs to hug Gaara*

GAARA: I'm guessing this is the part where I use my ninja skills to get the hell away from here...

TEMARI: Yep...that sounds 'bout right. *Both vanish in a poof*

AUTHOR: *tackles empty air* NO! GAAAAAA-CHAAAAANNNN! COME BACK!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"Welcome to Kangaroo Hill Secondary" I gestured proudly to the lone building. Deidara and Naruto squinted at it, while Sakura raised an eyebrow. Itachi maintained his stoic façade – his normal expression.

"It's small, un" Deidara seemed compelled to speak on behalf of the others. I scowled.

"There's more to it at the back." For some reason, I wanted these guys to have a really good impression of my school. "C'mon, I need to talk to the admin office people."

As we trooped into the grounds, heads turned to take in the four new additions. I was, by no means, a popular personal at school. Nor was I one of the nerds – I was one of the 'in betweens'. So, I think it's needless to say that I was a little daunted by the sudden attention. Especially from those who I doubted even knew I existed.

"That was weird" I whispered when reached the safe confines of the office.

"Huh? Whaddaya mean?" Naruto tore his eyes away from the portraits of the previous heads of school. I caught the grin directed at the pictures' serious expressions.

"It was like they were all watching me…well, you guys" I continued to whisper. "People don't usually follow me around at school."

"Looks like its up to us to make you popular around here" Sakura grinned and flicked her hair away from her face. I frowned at the girl.

"No thanks. I like where I stand on the social ladder."

"Aww, you're no fun!"

"Miss Nozomi" Mrs. Carson stuck her head around the corner. Her glasses, perched on the end of her long nose, glinted as she stared at me and my companions. " will see you and your friends now" she cast one last appraising look at us before turning her attention back to the computer.

"Er, yeah, ok…thanks" I mumbled. Hitching my bag up more securely onto my shoulder, I lead the troop past the wooden doors and into the principal's office.

"Er, hi " I gave a small wave. A squat woman, dressed in a grey suit skirt and jack looked up from a pile of papers in front of her. Her blue-grey eyes warmed, her mouth shaped in a kindly smile.

"Tara Nozomi, what can I do for you, dear?" she indicated to the chair in front of her. I sat on the edge, aware of how awkward this conversation could get, should I say the wrong thing.

"Um...these are my cousins from Japan" I jerked a thumb behind my shoulder. My principal inspected each with an experienced eye. Apparently, she was satisfied with what she saw: her gaze refocused back on me

"And you would like them to join us for a while?"

"Er, yeah...if that's ok."

"Hmm..." she pressed her fingertips together, elbows propped up onto the table. "Well, there will documentation to fill, medical details and such. But I suppose we can accommodate them."

"Really? Wow, thanks" I grinned and let out a sigh of relief. "Hang on," I frowned. "What about the school fees?"

"We can enroll them as overseas students. The government will pay for them" Mrs. Carson waved it off. My grin returned.

"Thanks Mrs. Carson."

She chuckled at my enthusiasm. "That's alright, dear. You might want to get to class." She turned back to pull out a small pile of papers. "These are the forms, please return them tomorrow. Oh, and we'll have their schedule ready for tomorrow."

* * *

"And this is the gym" I opened the door. Naruto and Deidara almost fell over each other, trying to be the first inside. The other two followed in a calmer manner. "It's not much" I shrugged, noticing Sakura's raised eyebrows at the worn floor mats and faded lines of the badminton courts. "But it's better than nothing."

"So, what do you do in this 'gym'?" Deidara inspected a basketball. I grinned and snatched the object out of his hand.

"Play sport" I took a shot at the hoop. The ball made a quiet 'swish' as it flew through the net. "Yes! And she scores" I did a victory lap around the space.

"Er…yeah…"

"What?" I picked up the ball, dribbling it between my legs. Taking up position at the free throw line, I put it up again, watching it as it arched in the air. "And she scores again!"

"What is so great about throwing the ball through the hoop?" Itachi asked, truly puzzled at my actions. I sighed.

"It's a game, 'Tachi. It's fun when you play with a team."

"Do you play?"

"Actually" I paused. "I _will._ You just reminded me to go sign up for interschool basketball."

"…interschool…?"

"Yeah" I shrugged, trying to find a similar ninja function. "Like…like the Chunin Exams. People from other countries come to compete, right? For international cooperation, or whatever? It sorta like that, except it's between schools in the district."

"Hn."

"Hey, hey" Naruto jumped up. "Do ya think we could join, too?"

I frowned, considering the pros and cons. "As long as you don't use your mad ninja skills during the games or training, I don't see why not."

"YOSH!" a Lee styled victory dance commenced.

"Still think it's ok for them to interact with others?" Itachi smirked, covertly nodding at the excited blondes.

"…good question…"

* * *

"Glad to see that you're not stopping sports" Mrs. Simmons smiled at me while holding her hand out for the permission slip. I scribbled down my name and passed the paper to the teacher.

"Are you kidding? I'll need training and games to keep me sane from all the work I'll have to do" I rolled my eyes. "Need help?" I asked Naruto, who was frowning down at his slip.

"Erm…yeah."

"Well," the teacher continued, ignoring the slight interruption. "We'll need your talent on court. Lots of the girls from last year dropped out."

"No way" I whined. The team I was a part of consisted of seven other girls. We weren't even aware of each other until we started to train for the games. It had only taken about fifteen minutes of warm up routines for us to bond. "Oh man! Not that I don't like the idea of a new team, but Sally and I could practically read each other's minds. Now I'll have to start from scratch."

"Sorry" Mrs. Simmons shrugged, filing away mine, Naruto's and Deidara's permission forms. "But Katey's still playing. You and her on defense together; it _looked_ impossible to get past both of you."

"Hehe" I laughed and sheepishly rubbed the back of my head at the compliment. Our sport teacher and basketball coach wasn't one to throw around praise like it was nothing. She only gave it those she felt truly deserved it. And getting approval from her is not an easy thing. "Thanks."

"So Kioko's good?" Deidara demanded. Mrs. Simmons grinned somewhat feral-like at him.

"Good? That doesn't even cover the girl's talent! She's a bloody _genius_. She adapts to anyone you team her up with, _and _always finds a way to pull of amazing moves. It's like she's born to play."

I smirked and held up a peace sign to the impressed ninjas.

"We gotta run, Mrs. Simmons" I said, heading to the door as the bell rang. "I'll see you at training tomorrow…after school, right?"

"Yep. That's including you boys as well" she added pointing.

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

I sighed and shoveled more rice into my mouth with my left hand, while my right scribbled away like crazy in my book.

"Er…Tara chan…" Tobi had his head tilted to a side. "Why are you eating and writing at the same time?"

" 'Cause I've go' 'raining 'morro' 'n' won' be 'ble 'oo do homework" I replied thickly through a mouthful of food.

"Yeah, yeah" Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Training?" Kakashi jumped in. "I thought you said there weren't any nins in this country."

"There isn't" I swallowed. "I meant basketball training. Naruto and Deidara are coming, too."

"What's basketball?" Konan leaned forwards slightly, blue bangs swinging forwards.

"A type of sport" I shrugged. "Hey, why don't you come and watch?" I grinned, inspiration striking me.

Those who had not been present with me at school looked at each other and shrugged. The issue of being stuck at home was slowly being sorted, with most of the nins getting jobs in the past few days – even Hidan managed to get a position at a café, cleaning the dishes or something.

"You're joking, aren't you?" I'd asked the Jashinist when he announced his achievement. It'd taken both Kakazu and Pein several minutes to convince me that Hidan's claims were true.

"Sure" Sasori smirked. He'd become a bit more expressive nowadays – a nice change from his ever wooden expression. "I don't start work till day after."

I nodded, most of my attention fixed back in my book.

* * *

"Four laps around the two courts and line up on the base line" Mrs. Simmons bellowed and blew the whistle hanging around her neck.

"Aw, man" a few girls whined, not in the mood to ruin their perfect make-up. I sighed and started to run, prompting the others to do the same.

"Only four laps?" Naruto asked keeping pace with me. I shrugged.

"Yeah. Most of these people here aren't exactly fit." I jerked a head towards a pair of girls who were puffing like a steam train – it hadn't even been half way through the first lap yet.

"I see what you mean, un" Deidara smirked. "Race ya" he told Naruto, taking the speed up a notch.

"You're on, dattebayo."

Everyone managed to complete the laps in under twenty minutes; not much of an achievement. I slowly stood up, having decided to sit and wait for the others after completing the run in just less than five minutes.

"Finally, un" Deidara complained.

"Get a ball and a partner and go through the throws" Mrs. Simmons lugged a huge net bag over her shoulder. She dumped it on the ground and raised an eyebrow at the group. "What're you lot waiting for?" she barked.

I sighed and managed kick a ball up into my hands. "I'll be your partner" I pointed to a random guy. He gave a smile, sending a shiver down my spine. _Creepy!_

"So what do we do?" he asked, positioning himself on the sideline.

"Passing" I threw the ball to him.

"…right…" the ball came flying back.

* * *

"Are you ok?" I tried to keep my laughter hidden, but couldn't help a few snorts and giggles escaping. Naruto scowled at me through a blackened eye and Deidara discretely flipped the bird at me, wincing as the bruise on his forehead twitched as he frowned. "What happened to you two?"

"I cannot believe how much they lack hand-eye coordination" Katey Smither's voice commented behind me. I spun around to the brunette to get details.

"What?"

"Jeez, if I knew that partnering this guy - " she jerked a thumb towards Deidara "- would be this _un_productive…"

"What did he do?"

"It's what he _couldn't_ do…the guy can't catch a ball to save his life" my basketball team mate threw her hands up in the air.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. I turned a disbelieving eye on the bomber. "With his…talents…you'd thought he would be less…susceptible to bruises" I muttered under my breath.

"SHUT UP!" both blondes whined and flinched in unison. I laughed.

"So, what's next, coach?" I called to Mrs. Simmons who was busy separating two very angry girls. She had one hand on either girl, pushing them apart for all she was worth.

"Take 'em for a game" she bellowed back, daring to flick her eyes at me for a second.

"Got it" I saluted. I turned to Katey. "Captain?" I offered.

"Why not" she grinned back.

"Ok, people" I clapped my hands, getting the attention of the others who'd turned up for a training session. I ignored the screams of pain and rage in the background, choosing to focus on glaring at a few still snickering boys. "Right, now that we've all been _revived,_" I quoted the word "we'll be playing a game. Katey and I will be captains…and we'll pick the members."

"Hang on" a tall black haired boy waved a hand in the air from the back of the group gathered around me. He was easily a lanky six feet, with wide aqua eyes and lithe muscles which were visible under his massive white tank top. "Why're you two _girls_ captains?" he sneered.

"Hey, Mr. Hotshot" I smirked. "Should you really be talking? I mean, didn't you just almost die at the ball passing drills before?"

He flushed as the others around him giggled. I held his eyes for a few more seconds. "Now that that's all cleared up," I took a breath "Katey, take it away."

"Alright!" she smiled brightly. Her eyes roved across the gathering of about twelve teens. "You" she said, pointing at a random redhead. The girl nodded acknowledgement at the reference, walking in a confident manner to stand next to her captain.

"My name's Alison" she said, crossing her arms and smiling.

"Right" they shook hands.

"My turn" I tapped my chin thoughtfully, looking at the remaining contenders.

* * *

"Oooh, my eye" Naruto groaned, collapsing onto the couch. Deidara moaned in agreement, staggering towards the fridge.

"Boy, you guys suck" I pointed out. "Aren't you ninjas meant to have good reflexes?"

Kisame snorted with laughter. "That's the general idea."

"Report" Pein ignored our antics, choosing to interrogate Itachi about his day. The Uchiha shrugged.

"Nothing much. Just a boring old school, boring subjects, nothing threatening as far as I could see."

I frowned at him. "Hey, just because we don't have sparring sessions doesn't make us boring." I locked eyes with the Sharingan user, determined not to be the first to blink. But that didn't work: my phone vibrated suddenly, making me jump and yelp in surprise.

"WOAH! Oh, it's a message from…" I trailed off reading the text "…Jordan" I smiled.

"Ooooh, you're _boyfriend_" Sakura cooed. I shot her a pained look.

"Real mature, Sakura."

She giggled.

"What'd he say?" Konan settled down next to me. Her orange eyes sparkled with interest.

"Just asking if I was free to meet him in the city tomorrow" I shrugged, my cheeks heating up slightly. _Sounds like he's asking me on a date_.

"A date?" Sakura sidled up, winking.

"Um…"

" 'Course it is" Konan grabbed my hand. "Come on, we have work to do" she tugged me out of the room. Sakura followed, laughing at my expression.

"K-konan, can't I just wear a skirt and top and ballet flats…I don't need to be primped up or anything…right?" I was scared of the answer. I wasn't one to be slathering on make up and perfume for a date; I was the tomboy. Make up and clothes were Lauren's forte.

"Time for a makeover" Sakura's and Konan's eyes gleamed.

Hidan, who'd just walked out of his room, retreated quickly, muttering something about never messing with females when they get 'that look' in their eyes. I gulped. _Oh, boy!_

* * *

"You look nice" Jordan's compliment had me spinning on the 4 inch heels of the wedges Sakura had forced on my feet. The black and white shoes were starting to kill my legs, my calf muscles cramping from standing on the torturous things for ten minutes.

"Thanks" I smiled nervously, eyes wandering over his crisp white dress shirt with very thin brown vertical stripes. The unbuttoned top button gave a nice view of nicely toned muscles and a scarlet oval pendent handing on a bronze chain. Dark blue, stone washed jeans, clothed his legs and his feet were slipped into a pair of very manly casual brown shoes. "So do you."

"I put in a little effort" he grinned and winked at me, a hand running through his ruffled hair. "Where did you want to head to?"

"Um, I thought I'd leave that to you" my smile relaxed, and I smoothed the front of my V-necked, gold embroided white top.

"Ok" he thought for a second. "You hungry?"

"I guess" I laughed, patting my grumbling stomach.

"Food it is" he gently took my hand. I blushed at the contact.

"Lead the way."

* * *

I knocked on the door, holding my shoes in the other hand. There was a massive thump – it sounded like something (or someone) falling down the stairs. There was a scuffling sound and finally the door opened to show a flushed Konan and Sakura wedged in the doorway.

"Er, hey" I raised an eyebrow at the two females.

"HOW WAS IT?" they shrieked in unison, hands dragging me into the kitchen.

"Tell us" Sakura demanded, planting herself firmly down next to me on the couch.

"Every single detail" Konan added, doing the same on my other side.

"Well, we went out to eat" I started, embarrassed at the attention I was getting. By now, Deidara, Kisame, Hidan and Pein had walked in and taken a seat, watching me. "Um, and then we just walked around, looking at shops and stuff."

"What else?" Sakura bounced up and down. "I mean, you didn't just walk around for – " she glanced at the clock " – six hours…did you?"

"We went to see a movie" I offered, grinning despite my blush.

"What did you see?"

"Avatar."

"The one with the blue people?" Deidara joined in the interrogation.

"Yep" I smiled, reminiscing. It'd taken us a few minutes to decide on one that we could both enjoy. Jordan was adamant that we should see one that I would like, and I didn't want him to sit there for two hours bored out of his mind.

"It's really good. We should go and see it" I told the group at large. Konan waved an impatient hand in the air.

"Forget the movie, tell us 'bout your date."

By now I was blushing so hard, my ears were starting to heat up. I wouldn't have been surprised to feel smoke coming out of my ears. "We…uh…we went to the park…"

"…and….?"

"That's it" I stated quickly, jumping to my feet.

"No, it's not" Kisame saw through the lie. "What else happened?"

"You – you didn't…" Sakura's eyes got huge, as though she realized something very important.

"Didn't what?" I asked nervous that she'd figured it out.

"…kiss" she stared at me. I shrank back from the look.

"…um…"

"OH MY GOD!" Konan yelled, hugging me.

"WHAT WAS IT LIKE?" Sakura screeched. "DETAILS! GIMME DETAILS!"

"Ne, ne, what's going on?" Kakashi made his appearance, scratching the back of his head. The remaining males followed the Copy Nin, no doubt attracted by the yells and screams.

"TARA GOT KISSED!" Sakura and Konan were very in sync. I scowled as Naruto and Tobi squawked.

"WHAT?"

"It was just a brush on the lips" I mumbled, burying my head in my hands.

"Aww" Hidan cooed sarcastically. "Is he a shy boy?"

"Wait" the urgency in Konan's tone made everyone freeze and turn to the bluette. "Was it your first?"

Mutely I jerked my head in an affirmative gesture. Silence fell as the Akatsuki and Team Kakashi members looked at one another.

"I'm gonna go and change" I announced, very aware that a gay baby – maybe twins – was probably born. I walked past the small group at the door, brushing past Itachi whose Sharingan was activated.

"Wow, her first, huh?" I heard Kisame comment.

"Our Tara chan is growing up" Naruto exclaimed.

* * *

I flopped onto my back, the cushiony comfort of my bed making my body relax to a certain degree. I stared at the ceiling, trying to loose myself amongst the miniature white bumps.

I was confused, pure and simple. At first, I'd thought that Jordan was the perfect boyfriend that Lauren always talked about having: he's smart, has a sense of humor, listens to me babble, is considerate and…well, he's scores high all around. But there wasn't that electric feeling I'm used to getting. Admittedly, I've only ever had two boyfriends in the past, both of them being disappointments, but…

I sighed. _I'm gonna go crazy! Jordan's a great guy_, I mused. _Let's just give him a chance. Who knows what'll happen next?_ I reasoned.

There was a knock on the door. I sat up, rearranging my face.

"Yeah?"

Deidara stuck his head around the frame. He cocked an eyebrow at me. "What's up, un?"

"Whaddaya mean?" I tried to avoid the question and his sharp eyes. He maybe no Uchiha, but the bomber could be just as observant if the he wanted to.

"What's wrong, Tara chan, un?" he sat down in front of me. We both crossed out legs, sitting Indian style in the middle of my single cot.

"Hey, Deidara?"

"Mmm."

"Have – have you ever dated someone?" I glanced at the blonde. His face screwed up in thought.

"Um…yeah, I think so, un"

I mentally sweatdropped. "You _think_ so?"

The ninja chuckled and leaned back against the foot post. "It wasn't one of the official dates" his eyes misted. "We used to just hang out, go places, stuff like that, un." I smiled as I heard the longing note in his voice.

"You miss her?"

"…yeah…"

We sat in silence, each lost in our own thoughts. A miniature clay crane flew around our heads, no doubt made by Deidara's skilled hands. I watched the bird soar, admiring the details of the wings and the beak. I was no artist, but even I could tell that no ordinary sculptor could have made any figurine as realistic as the blonde does.

"Do you miss Amegakuru?" I asked.

Deidara blinked, his train of thought interrupted. "Uh, sometimes, yeah…I guess, un" he tilted his head. "Why?"

I shrugged. "I guess it just hit me that you lot would want to return sometime. I mean, you'll probably get homesick…or something" I trailed off, trying to imagine the stoic members of the Akatsuki conveying their homesickness.

"Is that why you're hiding here?"

I sighed and crawled forwards so that I was lying on my stomach. "No. I was thinking about Jordan."

"What about him?" Deidara's fingers played with another piece of clay. Soon a tiger was bounding on top of my blanket. "I thought you said he was a nice guy."

"He is" I assured the bomber quickly. "He's a great guy. But the thing is…there's no special feelings…"

"…special feelings…?"

"Yeah, you know" I waved a vague hand. "When you were your girlfriend, didn't you feel…_different_, to how you feel around, say me?"

Deidara pondered on the question, his forehead wrinkling slightly. "I think I get what you mean, un" he started hesitantly. "So you're saying that Jordan may not be 'the one'?" he quoted the last two words. I stared at the anime character, surprised at how quickly he'd picked up the modern world's gestures.

"Er..yeah…do you realize how weird that looked?" I asked.

Deidara scowled. "Do ya want my help or not, un?"

"Sorry."

The blonde bomber smoothed his face. "But I do get what you mean, un. And I can honestly say…I have no clue what to do" he finished. If I had been in anime and standing, I would have faceplanted.

"Gee, thanks" I replied sarcastically. He shrugged, hands held up in a 'what can I do' gesture.

"I'm a guy, un. I don't do emotional stuff."

"True" I grinned standing up. "But with a hairstyle like that, you could be confused for the opposite gender" I sprinted out the door.

"OI! GET THE HELL BACK HERE, UN! I'M GONNA BLOW YOU SKY HIGH!"

* * *

"Left! Pass left" I waved my arms in the air, trying to get Naruto's attention. The ball sailed over the key, arching into my hands. I faked to the right, quickly dribbling a few paces forwards using my left hand.

"Steve" I barked, flicking the ball to the male standing at the top of the key. Grey eyes narrowed in focus, the ball lined up for the shot.

"No way, un" Deidara slapped the ball just as it was launched into the air. He picked it up off the ground, sprinting to the other end of the court.

"In your dreams, 'attebayo" Naruto yelled as he ran after the blonde. The remaining people on court followed, unable to keep up with the two idiots' speed.

"That's two points" Mrs. Simmons blew her whistle as Deidara performed a flawless lay-up. "Gather in, everyone."

"Nice shot" I smacked the bomber's back. After the little talk we had, the blonde and I had felt like there was something added to our previous relationship. Prior to yesterday, we'd both felt like housemates; we see each other on a daily basis, was on talking terms. But now, we acted like really close friends. It was a good feeling.

"Thanks, un" he ruffled my hair, being at least a good one and a half foot taller than me.

"Hey!"

"So, I hope you're all aware that the first game's on this Saturday" Mrs. Simmons waved a game-training timetable in the air. "I expect all of you to report by ten o'clock – sharp" here she threw me a look.

I grinned sheepishly. "Yes, ma'am" I replied meekly.

"Alright, get going you lot" she smiled at us. A few of students from the departing group yelled goodbyes to her.

"Is that it?" Sasori raised an eyebrow. He was sitting on the bleachers, along with the rest of the gang. A few girls, sitting close by, were throwing the males converted looks, giggling their heads off. "That was…interesting" he finished on an uncertain note.

"Well, I'm sure it doesn't compare to your sparring sessions" I scowled at the lack of enthusiasm. "But it's more fun at games."

"It actually is fun, Danna" I heard Deidara exclaim as I rummaged through my bag for a towel. "I mean, it's sorta like fighting, without having to worry about losing your life, un."

"Hmmm, yes…well" Sasori still wasn't convinced.

"Hey, hey" Naruto swung his bag over his shoulder, landing a solid smack on Sai's face. The ROOT member – to his credit – maintained his blank smile, all the while gingerly fingering the red skin. "Oh, sorry Sai" Naruto waved a sheepish hand.

"Baka" Sakura smacked the blonde halo. I saw a few guys in the vicinity wince in sympathy as Naruto let out a wail.

"OW, SAKURA CHAN!"

I sighed, the day slowly catching up to me. My arms and legs were starting to feel heavy, and even sighing took a lot of effort. "What were you going to say?"

"Huh?" Naruto scrunched up his face in confusion. "Oh, right" the expression cleared "Where are we playing?"

"There're a few courts down town" I waved a vague hand towards the sinking sun. "All the games are there…and some practices, if we get to the finals."

"You look tired" Konan noted, passing by me, her fingers intertwined with Pein's. I smiled as I looked pointedly at the join.

"I'm beat" I winked at her. She blushed and quickly broke apart, her hands suddenly very busy with a piece of paper. "Tobi" I barked thoroughly amused.

"What is it, Tara chan?" the masked ninja bounced to me eagerly.

"Carry me" I pleaded, lifting my arms like a two-year-old, demanding a ride.

"Sure thing" he offered his bent back. I scrambled on, not giving him a chance to reconsider. I grasped tightly onto his shoulders. "Home time" he cheered, sprinting off. I clung on for dear life, instantly regretting my choice of transport.

"HELP!"

* * *

I'm so sorry this took so long…but I had to keep concentrating on one of my other stories! If you're wondering about the really, _really_ short scene (is that what you could call it?) about the date...don't get made! It's just I had this really good idea of where to take it...then realized that it wasn't going to make sense. So, it kinda got cut half way through...Please enjoy and review…Thank you to all my reviewers and subscribers! YOU PPLZ ARE AWESOME!


	8. Author note  Story adoption

Um, hi!

I know, I know. It's so exciting to see the [New Chapter] alert in your inbox. And then you click on it…to see an author's note. Sorta makes you want to shoot the author sometimes, right.

If that's true, then I'm pretty much dead…cause I'm here to tell you guys that I'm not continuing this story anymore. It's mainly cause my ideas seem to fit my 'Six friends…' story a lot better than this one. But I am looking for people to adopt this and my other story…

So, if you are interested, please PM me and we'll work things out. Thank you!

Story-teller666 ^_^


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